Old Review 2

Another old review I did, this time for Smallville in 2007.
Seriously, this is how I spent my time whilst in post-graduate study.


show: Smallville
episode: Noir
Oh dear...
Not impressed at all. It was an intriguing concept, but the problem was that this episode was neither one thing or the other. If the hook for the episode is a 40's flashback, at least make most of the episode that way. As it was the plot couldn't seem to decide where it was supposed to be. It reminded me of that episode of 'Lois and Clark' which was also set in a noir flashback, and like this episode also featured the protagonists. However, here the noir sequences were poor I thought. Stilted dialogue and cliched archetypes. However, I did like the way they used wipes and back-projection, just like those classics of the 40's they were trying so hard to emulate.But once again with Smallville, it seems to be one of those episodes of a season that just come out of nowhere and have no relevance to any continuing plotlines.But seeing Clark as a bumbling reporter was good if too brief. Seriously, I can't even remember the plot and I just watched it! Something about Lana meeting a reporter with information and Jimmy being a hero. Now can we get back to the series please?

You Clever Kant.

I've been skimming through some of Immanuel Kant's philosophical work recently as I've not read any since 95/96 during my A-Level Theology, and it struck me that I would class myself as trying to live a 'Kantian' life in the intervening years. Essentially, Kant says, that which we ought to do is obviously different to that which we might want to do. However, it is our duty to do that which is morally right, regardless of how difficult that might be. An action will be moral if the motivation is morality itself. It is ok to be instinctly moral, but Kant argued we have a duty to be moral even when our self-interest says otherwise. In the Metaphysics of Morals he says;
In accordance with the ethical law of perfection'love your neighbour as
yourself', the maxim of benevolence is a duty of all human beings toward
one another, whether or not one finds them worthy of love.

It makes you wonder if that kind of principle was applied how many relationships would last longer. Consider the scenario; wife wants husband to do something for her; man can't be bothered because the footy's on so why should he? OR wife wants husband to do something for her; man huffs and puffs but does it for her because he values her happiness above his own.

Or how about man and woman have argument; she would really love to hurl the perfect put-down at him that will upset him. But she knows that she will regret saying it should she do so and so makes a moral choice to refrain.

You know what I've always found annoying? When people give it all that "I am who I am, and if you don't like it you can f**** off," as if they have some divine right to absolve themselves of any kind of blame. "It's just the way I am."
I'm sorry but I don't buy into that. Every human being has the capacity to make a choice in every possible situation. Just because our instincts might be to say or do what we feel does not mean it is moral to do so.

For a more in-depth insight into Kant, the Enlightenment and how today we have abandoned reason I recommend How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World by Francis Wheen.

Wednesday · 7:00pm - 10:00pm
Location
Hope Centre, Hanley

Come down to the start of the fight back against the CON DEM cuts! Not a day passes by without Cameron and Co announcing a fresh wave of cuts in our jobs, services and benefits, the harshest in living memory.The only way we are going to stand a chance against these cuts is to build a huge campaign involving trade unions and communities to resist these cuts....organised by North Staffs Trades Union Council

Speakers TBA

I should be filming this event too.

Simples?

Compare the Market, Go Compare, Dolmio Sauce. Effective marketing strategies or cynical stereotypes of national identities? A xenophobic pisstake of other cultures? Discuss....

"Don't Forget Me" Part One.

Falling Down (Joel Schumacher 1993) could be argued to be a perfect example of a film that exemplifies and calls into question the concept of masculinity in late 20th century/early 21st century society. Like American Beauty we could go into detail of how todays culture has emasculated the middle and working-classes. However, there are no doubt numerous essays describing this, and I would like to approach this film (or a few scenes at least) from a different perspective. I will attempt to argue that we can draw parallels with the current economic crisis.
Michael Douglas's character Bill 'D-Fens' is a product of the cold war. We are told that he used to make missiles and keep the country safe," and that he is in fact, like the protester at the bank (below) "not economically viable."




















The scene above is arguably used in the film as an example of the 'everyman' element; the man is dressed almost identically to D-Fens thus giving the audience a glimpse into Douglas's character and motivation. I would also argue that the fact that the protester is African-American was almost a 'token' gesture in response to any anticipated racism levelled at the film. I found an excellent essay and analysis on ethnicity in the film here http://www.theunapologeticmexican.org/elgrito/2007/01/at_the_movies_-_falling_down.html


It is worth asking how we make the link from a movie made in the early 90's to British society today. I would argue that we have more in common with our American cousins than we first realise. Leonard Quart in The Religion of the Market stated that even in the Thatcher years "British society became more Americanised; much more efficient, hedonistic, cash-obsessed and competitive". And so likewise, in times of economic crisis, Britain suffers just as working-class Americans suffer. While the film deals with the effects brought on by the Cold War ending upon a large section of society, in Britain we suffered in a similar way by the decline of the manufacturing industry, particularly in the Major and New Labour years since the film's release. And more importantly, like America, the billions used to bail out the banks have left us all 'not economically viable.'

Next time, I'll be looking at socialist themes in the movie.