Rez Dogs in the MAGA Megalopolis

Less than 30 days and the unpresented threat to our democracy begins to die or is unleashed spiraling us all, yes; the whole world, into a new unfathomable reality subsequent to the alternate reality we are currently living in. In the days before Sarah Palin, such rhetorically sounding alarms would be just quaint jests of poetic license but sadly today they are not as dozens of court cases and lawsuits present themselves combating active efforts to suppress voting in dozens of states, see the great work at democracy docket for more. The latter is erroneously glossed over as just a few segments unworthy of our constant attention which in news speak would mean network reporters on the scene providing updates everyday and extensive investigation, instead you get a few passing segments and quotes describing the 2020 election as if the only threat were designs to reactivate the rioters to storm the capitol once more declaring not only 2020 but 2024 stolen just as the former president and his some of his surrogates in suits are proposing. The mishandling for such dire misanthropic delusions and the direct corruption it springs from can be neatly experienced symbolically artistically and poetically with hyper stylish aplomb in Francis Ford Coppola’s stunning Megalopolis, but the true answers needed to heal you can feel wholeheartedly by the pond or in the back of the pick-up with the FX Hulu series, Reservation Dogs. Megalopolis is a magnificent epical spectacle that drums out a plethora of timeless old platitudes that should be absorbed. This feature film should be watched not once but several times because it harps on the symbolic grandiose gestures of both tyrannical power and altruistic dreamscapes quite literally but as the beatnik in one of Coppola’s own fluff films, Peggy Sue Got Married suggested about Hemingway’s The Old Man in the Sea; there was no meat on the bone. The old man opined about life, courage, honor, and purpose while fighting for his life bagging a Marlin in a small boat off the coast of Cuba but he returned with a skeleton, like the false communism on the island, unable to feed himself or anyone else. How was Cesar Catilina, played majestically, powerfully and intuitively by Adam Diver, going to incorporate the masses into his plans? What steps could the government of played to of helped New Rome? Are the answers for content peaceful comfortable living so hard to outline or implement sociologically in detailed actions and explanations? As young Bucky in Reservation Dogs said, “at least we know who we are”. The character played brightly by Mato Standing Soldier is suggesting no matter what the white man does or had done to native Americans, they still have purpose and meaning in life because of their identity, culture and ancestors. So why is just under 40 % or hopefully not more holding in their hearts lies as epitaphs to our demise? Bluntly put they don’t see the danger from the MAGA clan, they didn’t experience the daily chaos and anxiety that the former now illegitimate president wrought every single day. How bad can he be when about half of congress and dozens of suits on TV say he will “Make American Great Again”? The truth is the former President would be in prison if not for six members of the supreme court of the United States who have not only delayed and distorted his indictments but worse they redefined our nation on July 1, 2024 with their presidential immunity ruling effectively making us a monarchical republic, no longer a democratic republic. Congress and the justice department can no longer investigate certain communications or actions communicated or actuated by the president of the United States. We are no longer cowboys, ladies and gentlemen, we are now enslaved ranch hands.

The dramatic comedy series Reservation Dogs pines for our souls, and scours for our American Identity amongst heartfelt actuating effective dialogue and resonating performances. The series thrillingly sought to explain what each character needed and what they were going through with profound depth that heals. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Paulina Alexis, Devery Jacobs, as well as short stints by Oscar nominated actors Lily Gladstone and Ethan Hawke all stand out truly holding their hearts on their faces, conveying the weight of their concerns and spiritual growth, unveiling it in front of our eyes. The dialogue, honestly the best and most meaningful in any series since Ted Lasso, holds us accountable to our inner purpose and identity as defined by our divinity unlike the grandiose glimpses in Megalopolis; a major flaw effecting our politics, fraternization or affiliation versus soul spirit and merit-based value.

Vice President Harris needs to stoke the heartland’s spirit of true liberty and justice among the dangers facing our democracy and indeed human rights by the MAGA movements not just here but throughout the world. Can you imagine Harris in Miami with Cuban dissidents calling out the threats from the Cuban regime while comparing them to the fake electors or to state voter board members once again pining to steal results in America? Or how about appearing with a teen who doesn’t know his mother because he was ripped from her arms at the border? Who are we if we can’t lay out the plans of Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin? What will we become if we can’t spell it out?

ramy r us

Ramy, the dramatic comedy series on Hulu featuring the life of a young Muslim American man in Jersey, is a good metaphor for languishing political situations currently unraveling around the world and in the US of A. Ramy astonishingly brought forth a vision manifesting the most important question for any individual and indeed for mankind itself. Do we live and maintain a spiritual divine state of peace and safety, or do we dwell in desire rift with guilt distortion and ambivalence that divides not merely into mammoth delusionary unequal dichotomies but into a spiral of divisive thought. Ramy loses his sense of self and reality searching for the ultimate love energy to guide us. His uncle comes out manifesting a so-called right wing conservative anger that’s openly discriminatory as Ramy manages to treat him with residual compassion, his soul still lingering from the time he dangerously lied to help a war PTSD suffering individual who begged for redemption. Ramy contrasts his uncle’s dysfunction with an ex American vet’s psychotic tendency. The series treats violence just as it does the sins of lust and distorted outcomes, outlining how kindness and sincerity rule the day even while other more rigid actions cause massive chaos and pain. A Palestinian boy is left to languish in prison from an act of extreme desire albeit distorted passion. He stole the bike and deserved to have his jacket taken from him forcefully, but one suffers much more than the other because society is built on extreme discernment which has replaced reasoned thinking. Politics now uses a pulpit of distorted realities based on false conspiracies spread by social media algorithms which exists to sell ads. Its fine to sell ads, ill give my data for better cheeseburgers gladly but don’t keep fooling my family and friends into clicking on outlandish trails of video clips all serving mendacities upon mendacities upon mendacities for coupons. We as a nation are obsessed with satisfaction, just now most will think of the rolling stones and that song: I can’t get no satisfaction. The thrill especially bounded in culture gives us an indolent contentment; an easy fix of hysteria that acts boldly enough to submit and replace structure action and reasoned thought. At the same time great bold action predicated upon brash courage must immerge. Cuba needs a January 6th to happen but go further, and America needs to root out injustice while rectifying and regulating with new laws.

My favorite scene in the masterful series was when Ramy got his brain compared to that of a heroin addict with the same pleasure reward zones. Ramy, his doctor friend tells him, is overstimulated and needs to calm his mind down in order to get erect. You guessed it. Its all about sex and erections. The economy the environment and our justice system needs to get hard right. We need to storm the capitol building with appointed leaders ready to go; leaders biting at the bit to establish democratic rule in Cuba. Like good sex you got to be in love with what you’re doing, its got to be real, and based on whats good for you. What does science say about our emotions and where those thoughts lead us and how can we implement the proper reaction?

How do you give all your love selflessly? Only in temperance and restraint within the confines of divinity can you see clearly the ways to give of yourself. How much of myself must I share to properly love people? How do I harness this eternal force of contentment, living on the whims of devotion as guided by heartfelt sincerity always? Respecting all the dogma of the world and efforts to seek a reality for the soul after death, each doctrine points to the same conclusion a child could understand. To see truth and justice we should examine the intent of every heart and what motivates emotion. We all recognize our vices knowing how our limitations push us away or distorts our view of reality from a passive peaceful contentment bound by a lack of nervous fear or regret. To be gentle and kind is never complicated except when it is not actualized. This focus of thought is the meaning of life and the clarity of enlightenment. What is the easiest way attain a state of comfortable divinity always? It is easy to contemplate on our God or a different version of him as the means to achieve such discipline. To rule over your expression words and feelings tying then directly to a state of prayer or yoke calling upon the most good that can be felt, thought or actualized.

REVIEW: STUCK TOGETHER a film for a new age of reason

The world has a problem with substance as news has become opinion and commentary, allowing for dangerous distractions and subversions in the social contract; on beautiful display in the patient well-worn staging of average personalities all coping with the same underling problem, “Stuck Together” in a pandemic. The French film’s title itself a not so obvious metaphor for our political constructs. Set during the months before viable vaccines at the height of the covid scare, the humor and drastic realities are masterfully depicted in this epic story weaving a cast of apartment building extroverts and egomaniacs gunning for the most understanding and clarity in the temporary surreal existence of a government-imposed lockdown. The best part of the film stuck to a common theme we are all still feeling; how does your safety or perception of safety relate to who you are as a person? Everyone builds toward whatever grace they can surmise in a struggle to survive, weighing the pros and cons of freedom. One character charged with representing germaphobia was too slapstick for me, but my wife laughed loud during his absurdist scenes incidentally symbolizing the horrifically foolish extremes attempting to trump science and reason at a critical time. The safest vaccines ever, have been ridiculed erroneously ad nauseam. The most epic storyline features lawyer Laurence Arné as Claire; her touching teary eyed acceptance of a political rival’s redemption, that of a brute businessman played engagingly well by François Damiens as Tony. Worth the price of admission, the crescendo like impossible love felt fleeting at the same time as ever enduring, a masterclass of acting and directing capturing the essence of spiritual empowerment. Not far behind in accolades, the treatment of a child’s first romantic love in all its infinite innocent bliss was captured by the serene timing of child actors, Rose De Kervenoaël as louna, and Milo Machado-Graner as Basile; their extremely complex acting, especially at their age, was set to gorgeous cinematography which should have been used more. The innocent romantic love between children captivated in a heart shaped scene. A heavenly painting of a perfect moment seared into your mind with the sign of the heart juxtaposed marvelously. Artful framing and rich photography have sadly been used all too sparingly throughout the history of film; even masters like Bergman, Gilliam, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson, Nolan, and Spielberg who do dabble in scene painting don’t use this technique enough. Several modern political and social dilemmas can be measured against the psychology displayed in this classic film. Perhaps the most intense and glaring question to pose is, how news was examined as commentary throughout or how unexamined ideologies creep into our personalities establishing unrooted convictions lazily carried out at timely extremes. Our current media likewise focuses on soundbites as defining what news is rather than examining the actions and consequences being taken; the boring reporting of progress or lack thereof ignored. At one point in this film, spoiler alert, a doctor is arrested for running dangerous experiments with himself and others unbeknown to them, taken away with a possible perfect vaccine, the science of which remains studied. Perhaps symbolizing the conscious of a modern nonbeliever carried away by opinion in a world desperate for new rules and edifying justice. The dream of Franklyn and Paine, relies on actionable reason going about the reforms and implementation of new ideas and social constructs that brings us together in a harmony of a true democratic republic which strives toward comfort safety and true inclusion. Instead, we a ‘stuck together’, listening to our incoherent gripes and uncontested battles.

Si Se Puede - July 11 in Cuba - documentary short

 https://youtu.be/XDfN2yZXK5o

The Social Dilemma: Seven Months Later

Commercial use algorithms must be designed to omit certain types of content. Even though you can opt out to get your feeds in chronological order without interference and you can also make a feed based on your favorites. These are in effect the safety measures social media companies have created in the wake of our political dystopia in America married like a Siamese twin with an alternate reality of a party which uses lies and deception.

Ever since we began congressional hearings on social media the companies have been working to improve the service by removing extreme content that violates “public standards”, but no plans were laid out to regulate for ‘civic standards’, politics or mental illness.

The scary ai, artificial intelligence, we all should worry most about are social media algorithms which create specialized content to serve advertisers. Seven months after the epic documentary film The Social Dilemma we still haven’t addressed the elephant in the room, and it bears repeating. At one point the film which should be required viewing for students, a fictional teen girl smashes a locked box to get her phone locked up on purpose by her mom for only one hour and her son tries for a week without his phone; both instances showcasing the extremes of online addiction. Through these dramatizations guided by interviews with many of the original social media algorithm creators the harsh reality of modern-day technology is clearly evident but the solutions and regulatory needs are not detailed.

We all have our own distinct social media feeds, separate and individual, and when manipulations increase polarization for profit, it becomes dangerous especially when its used just for your attention. Information and news can never be politically motivated in such an environment because it creates harmful interest groups. Content that is deliberately a deception should be considered political and should not be part of any algorithm reliant on holding your attention to sell ads. The psychological consequences will be studied for years to come but what is most urgent is how it effects politics. It is unethical for social media platforms to monetize any content that contains socio political information. While of course free speech and political content should never be banned; people should be able to search and find any type they want legally, but that content again should not be used in algorithms that are monetized to maintain your attention in order to play you ads; this by definition becomes a political ad even if there is no person or political party physically purchasing the feeds. The examples of governments paying social media to help them win elections by manipulating viewers is appalling and egregious. Democracy should never be caught up in a sale of any kind. That is the existential threat. Manipulating your attention for market uses I believe are fair game while obviously coming with other types of psychological problems that should be further studied and regulated. Likewise online platforms should never be able to block search content; the internet must be free from commercial obstruction.

They are calculating our emotions and actions online, analyzing what we consume for advertisers. Political ad buying should never be a part of this and must be illegal on social media, period. Hours of congressional Hearings didn't even mention this as a viable solution. At the very least political monetization altering motivations and the habits of users should be illegal on social media platforms.

Solutions at end of the documentary film give some other essential tips on how you fight the algorithms like not clicking on recommend videos, but the problem is not with savvy people that could reprogram their feeds, it comes with mammoth size groups clustered over specific interests or beliefs regardless of merit. If they are clustered because of commercial access to attention, then they become divided even from their own true beliefs whether they realize it or not. It’s clear that the information age has made smart people smarter and dumb people dumber, but we can not allow mob rule to be strengthened by commercial proxies focused on profit and self-interest.

 

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/algorithms-and-amplification-how-social-media-platforms-design-choices-shape-our-discourse-and-our-minds

The Chair Review and the Lost Debate

 

What a timely series, “The Chair” (currently on Netflix) provides a breath of fresh air, and a place where truth is led astray in the hallowed grounds of truth seeking; highlighting the paradox of democratic movements which like in the series mostly lack detailed focus on outcomes or specific demands. In the Chair liberal activists demand a teacher be fired for making a Nazi salute without any nuanced perspective.  The series looks at how the media frenzy over the student cell video that captures the act goes out of control without said proper context. As awkward and senseless as it seems to the viewer so to are a staggeringly large group of people in our American society baselessly brainwashed to for example view COVID vaccines or the wearing of masks as an afront to their freedom! The series doesn’t make the correlation with well-meaning liberal activists and ring wing fed so called conservative activists nor does it offer any solutions to disinformation campaigns but at least it’s a theme and a topic that can be examined moving forward. While the teacher accused could seemingly end the false narrative with a simple explanation, he does not, and the first season ends without this needed resolution. Convincing conspiratorial “conservatives” that their opinions on masks and vaccines are erroneous has likewise not been properly addressed.

Sandra Oh leads the English department with an Emmy winning grasp of emotion. She’s a delight but run through too fast during much of the first season; the ‘TV pace’ takes away from the theme’s grand realism and its substantive dialogue. I hope the show’s writer producer Amanda Peet, who ranged so well in Brockmire where she played a struggling alcoholic brilliantly, can make an appearance next season.   

The timing and structured plot tunes worked great although there were a few scenes and or scenarios that sounded unrealistic or seemed out of place. Jay Duplass, who plays the accused teacher, and Holland Taylor, who shines as an overdramatic professor who is treated poorly because she’s a woman, both understand the importance of realism, their performances sought true understanding, conveying as much as possible, if only they were on screen more. What’s the rush lol..

Our society much like the University in the Chair, is now undergoing an urgent emergency in climate change and the stated strange political dilemma mired in large misunderstandings. The anti-mask, disinformation campaigns have become a theme all too often to the point where the phrase, “it’s a medical emergency” means you don’t get to decide whether not to wear a mask or get vaccinated because that’s not at all political. Deniers are right to view the government as clueless and inept in the face of so much in action much like the students in the Chair but, they both got the facts wrong, and their alternate reality is blind to research and science as well as against public health. I’m so looking forward to the next season of the Chair, where a proper perspective can be found. As far as American society, I’m afraid what may be needed is more time, media that more forcefully and virally points out misinformation, and or more consequences for the enablers and right wing or so called “Trumpers” who should not only face litigation but should also face our justice department which as an institution sadly fails us in going after dangerous inciteful speech whose results are clearly sociopathic. Truth is being swept on so many levels under the Chair, perhaps, like in the series someone can sit on it and add clarity to the lost debate.