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.

Another old review.

Whilst still sorting through old reviews I did in various places in cyberspace, here's a review of Blur's Special Collector's Edition in 2004. What a sad stoodent I was. Still, 5 people found it helpful apparently.

Britpop's founders at their peak.
This album is an excellent retrospective of a band at the height of their artistic (rather than commercial) peak. From the My Bloody Valentine fixated period of songs like 'Luminous' and 'Hanging Over'- all swirly guitars ending in repetitive feedback, through to the more familiar 'la la la' elements of Britpop in 'Threadneedle Street'. Rather than being a mere b-sides album, this edition is like an alternative early history of Blur, perfectly complementing 'Leisure', 'Modern Life is Rubbish' and 'Parklife'.There is an experimental nature to some of the songs (like most b-sides), especially in 'Badgeman Brown' amd 'Es Schmecht'. On 'Got Yer!' Damon's mockney ramblings seem a little embarrassing - the track obviously being a precursor to 'Essex Dogs' and indeed 'Ernold Same'. The instrumental tracks are interesting. I'd love to know what Damon's then girlfriend Justine Frischmann thought of 'Anniversary Waltz', given her supposed hatred of German music. The only disappointing track is 'Beard', a pseudo-jazz effort uncharacteristic of Blur, and I could have done without the Japanese fans rendition of 'Bank Holiday'.But this album represents everything that was good about Britpop. Graham's guitar work on tracks like 'Inertia' sounding like a beefier, distorted Johnny Marr and Damon is on fine form throughout, except on ' Maggie May',(Blur's only cover to date)where he clearly struggles with the high notes!This is how Britpop should be remembered though. Not your Liam swaggers, Weller ballads, or Suede dandy-isms. Just cracking songs and innovative, exciting music made by four brilliant musicians with turned up Levis who pretended to be from Camden. Two years after this album Blur had moved on musically (and geographically) but this is an essential purchase for everyone who thinks 'Modern Life Is Rubbish' remains their best album.As Damon sings on 'Theme From An Imaginary Film': "Oh shame it's over/its been such fun and we had a ball".No truer words were said.

UK Film Council Abolished.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10761225

The latest round of Con-Dem cuts is hardly surprising. The Tories and Arts and Media are terms that don't seem to go together. The worst aspect of this is we may now find ourselves in a similar situation to the 1980s. "The British Are Coming" proclaimed the press after the Oscar success of Chariots of Fire. This was not to be in the following years, and one can only wonder what output us Brits could have produced in the decade of excess. Instead the 'classic' films were few and far between. The seminal works in the 80s included My Beautiful Launderette and Withnail and I. Yet films such as these were only made with the assistance of Channel 4 and Handmade Films. The Thatcher Government was also notoriously unsupportive of the industry.

It is also worth noting that Labour set this council up in the 90s. It is also worth noting, despite the failure of Labour in every other area of society, that some of the most creative and successful British films emerged in this period, as well as the success of distributors such as Polygram, who even made inroads in the American market having worked with the Coen Brothers, (the Big Lebowski) Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects) and invested in talent like Danny Boyle for example. Polygram's and UK Film Council chairman Tim Bevan called the announcement a "bad decision". No truer words were said.

Benjamin Dylan Andrew Steele

My son was born on Friday 16th June at 3.21pm. He weighed 9lb 1oz, and is ace!