Quote of the Week

Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto. (I am human, I consider nothing human alien to me.)
--Terence, Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor)

Pop and TV Song of the Week: "Pinky and the Brain Theme"

Cool! Or should I say narf?

Movie Song of the Week: "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"

Run, Quicksilver, run!

Quote of the Week

Catholicism made me a humanist before I knew the word. When people rail against “secular humanism,” I want to ask them if humanism itself would be okay with them if it wasn’t so secular. Then I want to ask, “Why do you think it is secular?” This would lead to my opinion that their beliefs were not humanist.
--Roger Ebert, Life Itself : A Memoir

The Eternal Paradox

If I sit around and try to write a respectable piece of literature, the words just won't come.

But if I treat it as a hobby and write something merely for the fun of it, then the words flow like water in summertime.

R.I.P. Julie Adams

American actress Julie Adams -- most famous for her role as Kay Lawrence in the 1954 horror film Creature From the Black Lagoon
as well as for a recurring role on the TV series Murder, She Wrote -- took one final dive on February 3, 2019, at age 92.

She will be missed.

The Things We Are Not Supposed to Talk About

A good friend of mine told me today about how one of her granddaughters recently got beaten up by a fellow student for:

1. singing a "black song."

2. responding to a question by said student about whether or not she wanted to be black by saying that she actually wanted to be Latina.

3. admitting that she was in actuality an Arab.

Needless to say, none of these reasons deserved punishment but that's what the poor girl got anyway. And unfortunately, such incidents are not rare. According to my friend, the girl's older half-brother got similar treatment from bullies when he was younger even though he was half-black. For that matter, so did the girl's biracial mother.

And sadly enough, the student responsible did not apologize until several days afterward -- and even then the grandmother suspected that the bully's true motive for apologizing was not genuine regret but a desire to avoid prosecution for a hate crime.

I could go on to say more but then again it should not matter what else I could say. The fact is that the little girl was bullied and I can't help feeling very angry about it. It should not matter if the girl responsible was white. It should not matter if she was black. It should not matter if she was Arab or Latina or Asian or anything else. A bully is a bully is a bully is a bully is a bully and anyone who tells you different is probably either a potential bully or an enabler of bullies.

I know that is fashionable in some sections of modern society to pretend differently but I prefer not to think that way. After all, when a former co-worker told me about how her younger sister had once been bullied by Mexicans, my first reaction was not, "Yeah, you Anglo girls deserved that." It was "My God, how would I feel if something like that happened to my sister!"

I also know that it is fashionable to rationalize the desire to not talk about such incidents on the grounds that such talk will only encourage people to get the wrong idea about certain minorities. This is an understandable sentiment but unfortunately, it is also a bit shortsighted if for no other reason that most of the victims of such bullies are themselves minorities. And even if they were white, the same attitude would still be shortsighted. After all, few white people -- especially white liberals -- would be flattered by the idea that there is absolutely no difference between them and the average white bully. Yet this is very often the type of assumption that white liberals are expected to make in regard to nonwhite bullies: that there is no difference between, say, the Mexican who beats up on little kids and the Mexican who does not beat up on little kids. And even if such assumptions could be "proved" to be just, the fact still remains that most people -- regardless of race-- resent like hell the idea that it's okay for people to beat them up.

In any event, this is not a recent problem. Some of my older Mexican-American cousins used to complain about the bullying they experienced in Detroit schools back when they were young. And I somehow doubt that they were the only ones who experienced such problems.

For that matter, I don't kid myself that any one ethnic group has a monopoly on school bullies. But I also don't kid myself that any ethnic group is immune to the temptation to bully.

As for the notion that we just should not talk about it:

1. The one thing we should have learned in the 1960s is that major social problems don't just go away because certain people don't want to talk about them.

2. Said problems are likely to affect people's behavior and attitudes whether we talk about them or not. So it is not very helpful to society to just pretend such problems don't exist.

3. Just because you don't want to talk about certain problems doesn't mean that people are going to stop talking about them. They just won't talk about them to you. And that attitude, needless to say, can come back to haunt you.

¡Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad!

The late Julie Adams would like to wish all my readers a Happy Valentine's Day and I wish to echo her sentiment.

May you and your loved ones find some happiness on this day, even in the midst of these often depressing times.

My Nanny, My Self: Tully

Tully is a night nanny who arrives at Marlo's house after dark -- like a vampire. Okay, not like a vampire. Like a brownie. Or an elf. Which might explain why Marlo (played by Charlize Theron) never seems to worry too much about shoes.

Tully was played by actress Mackenzie Davis who played the role so well that it seemed a cheat to realize that the real problem with Tully was that -- ah, but that would be telling.

Needless to say, Tully was hardly the first movie I ever saw that argued that motherhood sucked. Indeed, movies and TV shows have been poking fun at the tendency to glamorize motherhood since the days of Lucy Ricardo. But it was the most imaginative such movie that I've seen in quite a while. And it seemed even more amazing when I considered the fact that it was created by writer/director Diablo Cody, a woman I still think of as the author of Candy Girl.

I must confess that I was a bit reluctant to watch this movie. Diablo Cody does not have the best of records when it comes to movies and God knows she has received her share of bad reviews in the past. Moreover, I could not help but wonder prior to watching this movie how many single moms Ms. Cody might have come to know while researching her first book Candy Girl -- moms who undoubtedly had even worse problems than poor Marlo and yet were still considered unworthy of a screenplay.

And yet Tully won me over despite all my misgivings. Granted, I was a bit surprised that the movie's big plot twist wasn't a bit more controversial. And I can't help but wonder whether the movie would have ever been made if it were not for that particular twist. For that matter, how seriously should we take Cody's attempt at a happy ending? Er, that ending was happy, wasn't it?

Perhaps I should just shut up and concentrate on that nice mermaid scene toward the end. After all, mermaids are pretty. Mermaids are nice. Diablo Cody should include more of them in her future projects. But then this movie wasn't really about mermaids. Or was it?

The Involuntary Parent Trap: Transamerica

A transgender patient is basically punished for being transgender. What fun.

Okay, there is obviously more to the 2005 movie Transamerica than that. Like the way that the movie's transsexual protagonist was relentlessly humiliated for trying to do the right thing by a teenaged son that he or she never asked for.

But in the end, it all amounted to the same thing: a transsexual patient was being punished for circumstances beyond his or her control and we the audience were expected to find that entertaining. Surely one does not have to be politically correct to find something seriously warped about that.

Wollstonecraft in Love: Mary Shelley

I am not sure how much of the 2017 movie Mary Shelley was historically accurate and I am not sure that I really care. I do know that when I first started watching it, I found myself fearing that the whole movie would turn out to be one long exercise in tiresome Oscar bait specifically made to appease the Merchant and Ivory set. But to my surprise, I found myself caught up in it.

There were times that it seemed a bit soap opera-ish. Indeed, it would have been a bit hard to tell Mary Shelley's real-life story without getting a bit soap opera-ish.

Then again I was a bit surprised to see the affair between Ms. Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin -- aka the future Mary Shelley -- and the poet Percy Shelley depicted not so much as a grand romantic tragedy but more as a tragically romantic mistake. Indeed, Percy Shelley came across in the movie as so much of a schmuck that it seemed a wonder that Ms. Wollstonecraft Godwin would end up staying with him. To the movie's credit, it also tried to give equal time to Mary's literary efforts though I suspect that the romance between her and her future husband was the real point of interest for most other audience members.

If I had to pick the movie's biggest flaw, it was that it left so many questions unanswered, the most obvious being the fate of Shelley's daughter from his first marriage -- the one in which he was involved prior to meeting Ms. Wollstonecraft Godwin. The movie had a touching scene midway through the film in which the future Ms. Shelley saw her future husband's current spouse Harriet out walking with the daughter that was conceived in that marriage and thus saw a glimpse of her own future. But alas, Mary did not heed the obvious warning that someday her lover might display the same attitude toward her and her future child that he was currently displaying to Harriet and her child.

For that matter, there was yet another scene in which an old friend of Shelley's decided to make a pass at Mary -- and when Mary told Percy about it, he seemed so fine with it that it seemed a wonder that he did not go on from there to pimp her out.

In the end, Ms. Wollstone Godwin got more sympathy than her future husband and it was hard for me to pretend she did not deserve it. But the lion's share of my sympathy still stayed with Percy's first wife and her daughter -- neither of whom were ever likely to ever become the subject of a Hollywood movie. Oh, well. At least the movie did not pretend that the two of them never existed.

Pop Song of the Week: "Historically Accurate Disney Princess Song"

A certain online critic on my blogwall is always calling for more items about princesses. I'm not sure if this is exactly what she had in mind but this certainly qualifies. Of course, it also provides ample proof that Rachel Bloom of "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury" fame is not just another one-trick pony.

Movie Song of the Week: "I Won't Say I'm in Love"

The Greek myths go Motown -- so to speak.

Quote of the Week

I just want to write myself a world and go live in it.
--Amanda, Cyberunfamous, Date Unknown

Iconos de Cine (Amor Oscuro)

Trailer of the Week: My Bloody Valentine (1981)

The first of several sadistic horror films dedicated to Saint Valentine's Day. On the plus side, I can't really argue that it is not seasonal.

Gothic Icon of the Week

Lydia Deetz as an adult.

Taken from here.

Poema de Mi Id

“Amor Prohibido (Forbidden Love)”

Your ring finger has a white circle
Not yet conquered by the summer sun.
I know my love for you, my darling,
Should be something that my heart should shun.

But I smile when I see your face
On a day that is frigid and gray
And I sadden when I must see you
Start to turn and walk the other way.

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "The Weight of the World"

Warning: Plot Spoilers

Leave it to Joss Whedon and his writing staff to come up with what seems like the ultimate metaphor for certain online discussions concerning race and ethnicity, if not politics in general. I don't generally identify with Spike but I can't help but identify with his character here since I often feel the same way when I'm discussing certain issues online -- especially when I'm discussing "Hispanic" issues.

Of course there is a more apolitical approach I could take to this same scene but eh, what fun would that be?

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Agent Carter: "Bridge and Tunnel"

Peggy Carter went undercover as a blonde to investigate a crooked weapons dealer who was alleged to have stolen some inventions from Howard Stark -- Tony Stark's father. (Does this mean that Peggy was actually -- No, that couldn't be.)

Anyway, Peggy Carter discovered a ring of mysterious secret agents -- all of whom lacked voiceboxes. She also uncovered news of a mysterious organization called Leviathan -- an organization apparently named by someone who was a very big fan of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

Plus a lot of neat stuff blew up. But you probably guessed that part.

And toward the end, Peggy endeared herself to a waitress in a local diner by helping her deal with a rather obnoxious customer. See, it is sometimes a good idea to be kind to foreigners...

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Agent Carter: “Now is Not the End”

Supergirl made a big deal out of the rather obvious family connection between its title character and Superman -- and oddly enough, it has managed to last four seasons. Agent Carter for the most part downplayed the obvious connection between its title character and Captain America -- and it barely lasted two seasons. There is a lesson there, methinks.

Anyway, I always had a soft spot for Agent Carter and I was always a bit disappointed that the show itself was not more successful. It did not help that in an age where almost every bad TV show gets countless commercials advertising its presence, the show itself got little if any publicity. I did not catch up with the show until the second season but even then I could not help admiring its gift for witty dialogue and suspenseful plotlines. However, my opinion has proved to be a minority one.

Anyway in this episode, Peggy did a lot of investigating for a government agency known as the Strategic Scientific Reserve and uncovered a plot which indirectly led to the murder of her roommate. Will her poor roommate be avenged? Inquiring minds want to know.

Movie Quote of the Week

Claire. I like being your friend because... it makes me multicultural without having to do anything.
--Leah Pipes, Sorority Row (2009)

TV Quote of the Week

Sir, take a look around you. The machines have already taken over the world.
--Robert Llewellyn, Red Dwarf, "Mechocracy"

Fantasy Quote of the Week

What sort of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.
--Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

I’m human. Do you think I’m not?
--Deirdre in C.L. Moore's “No Woman Born”

Iconos de Arte (La Filósofa de Felícula)

Voight-Kampff Test Questions

Speaking of the famous Blade Runner turtle test, here is a list of questions from that movie -- questions that are used to tell the difference between a human being and a replicant. Of course, the scariest thing about this test is the way I can't help but wonder how many people today would gladly take pride in flunking it.

It’s your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet.

You’ve got a little boy. He shows you his butterfly collection plus the killing jar.

You’re watching television. Suddenly you realize there’s a wasp crawling on your arm.

You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down, and you see a tortoise, it’s crawling toward you. You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back. The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs trying to turn itself over, but it can’t, not without your help. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

Describe in single words, only the good things that come into your mind about your mother.

You're reading a magazine. You come across a full-page nude photo of a girl. You show it to your husband. He likes it so much, he hangs it on your bedroom wall.

You become pregnant by a man who runs off with your best friend, and you decide to get an abortion.

One more question: You're watching a stage play - a banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters. The entree consists of boiled dog.

Pop Song of the Week: "Mandy Goes to Med School"

It's surprising how few pop songs there are to be found involving such a controversial subject. And quite frankly, as melodramatic as Amanda Palmer's song is, I can't help but admit that I prefer it to those tunes that have been written by people who seem to believe that the ideal viewpoint on this subject is best expressed by the type of people who will never be in any danger of passing the Blade Runner turtle test. At least she dares to provoke a reaction.

Movie Song of the Week: "Hocus Pocus"

No fucking way!

Quote of the Week

You’re in America, act like a criollo, for chrissakes.
--Enrique Fernandez, “P.C. Rider,” The Village Voice, June 18, 1991, vol. 36, no 25

Trailer of the Week: Alita: Battle Angel

Cool! A Latina superheroine. This actually looks interesting, which means all the white film critics who are usually all about diversity when promoting their own favorite movies will undoubtedly find something wrong with it.

Gothic Icon of the Week

Miss Nora Kerin, early twentieth century actress and ghost hunter, circa 1907.

Okay, she's not really a ghost hunter but if they ever make another Ghostbusters movie, I really would like to see her as a main character. At this point, I'd settle for Nora Kerin fanfic.

Taken from here.

Knowing Me, Knowing You

My favorite response to the 2009 movie Knowing came from an anonymous movie-goer here in Dallas who said, "Jesus, please don't send your crazy alien angels to save us."

Personally, I must admit that I liked this story better when it was titled "The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes".

As for the religious angle, I'm surprised that a certain film critic of Scandinavian descent didn't even try to equate the "Adam and Eve" figures at the end with the Norse entities Lif and Lifthrasir. Come to think of it, those pagans used to come up with a lot of nasty theories about how the world would end with little if any input from the Left Behind set. But I am sure that was just a coincidence.

For that matter, I could not help viewing the ending of this movie without thinking of the old Neil Young song "After the Gold Rush". Which probably was not the screenwriters' intention...

In any event, there had been at least one effort on the Internet to compare this movie by director Alex Proyas to a famous science fiction short story written by Robert Heinlein which was called "The Year of the Jackpot". The short story in question had no angels, no children, and took place near Los Angeles around the year 1952. However, like the movie, it had a mathematically talented man who stumbled upon a statistical way to see bad things coming, a correlation with ancient prophecy, a young twentysomething woman who was caught up by events, a road trip that was made against incredible odds, and a last-day revelation that the sun is about to explode... Of course, I had actually read that same short story as a teenager and I still did not make the connection. Perhaps because Heinlein and Proyas had such different attitudes towards their material. Heinlein treated the whole end of the world thing as some sort of surprise ending while Proyas dwelt on it and dwelt on it. Plus there was a certain matter-of-fact tone to Heinlein's story that Knowing could have used in place of its more melodramatic attitude. And considering the fact that Heinlein's short story essentially argued that a large group of women removing their clothes in public was a sign of impending doom, that's saying something.

However, to each his own.

Movie Quote of the Week

What is powerful about a woman running around in a bathing suit?
--Connie Britton, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

TV Quote of the Week

Congratulations. You just reached a level of stupidity usually only seen in Republicans and other lower primates.
--Ted Danson, Becker, "Bad to the Bone"

Fantasy Quote of the Week

“But you love these stories!” Atticus said. “You love them as much as I do!”

“I do love them,” George agreed. “But stories are like people, Atticus. Loving them doesn’t make them perfect. You try to cherish their virtues and overlook their flaws. Their flaws are still there, though.”

“But you don’t get mad. Not like Pop does.”

“No, that’s true, I don’t get mad. Not at stories. They do disappoint me sometimes." He looked at the shelves. "Sometimes, they stab me in the heart.”
--Matt Ruff, Lovecraft Country

Courtesy of the For the Gothic Heroine website.

Science Fiction Quote of the Week

His face was cold. His mouth trembled, asking: "Who -- who won the presidential election yesterday?"

The man behind the desk laughed. "You joking? You know very well. Deutscher, of course! Who else? Not that fool weakling Keith. We got an iron man now, a man with guts!" The official stopped. "What's wrong?"
--Ray Bradbury, “A Sound of Thunder”

Gatekeepers

Every time I hear the word "gatekeeper," I can't help being reminded of Operation Gatekeeper. How odd that despite the many fans of a specific movie with whom I have talked online, it was Christine McConnell who reminded me of yet another meaning for the word "Gatekeeper."