What Do You Do When You Are Sick

This past week I have been deathly ill with a cold. I have been drinking lots of water and tea. Also, I have been reading and watching movies. I finished "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and "Same Kind of Different Me." Both are worth reading. I also watched many movies and tv shows. Below are some reviews.

Drive
Ryan Gosling plays the part of a stunt performer who transports bad guys for five minutes at a time. A friend of my mine described this movie being just like "Rebel Without a Cause" except more depressing. I agree. It's an interesting movie if you like movies where the main actor never talks, stares a lot and beats people up really bad. Did I mention he's also a great driver?

The Guard 
I picked this movie because it was shot in Ireland, one of my favorite countries. The movie is based in Country Galway, where I spent a couple of days. It was fun seeing shots of places I've been. For those who haven't been to Ireland, you will find this movie worthwhile. Brendan Gleason does a great job acting so smart you can't decide if he's dumb or intelligent. Also, Gleason was a teacher before he became an actor so that's another reason to watch it, though not a good one.

Five Minutes of Heaven
I should have just watched just movies about Ireland during my sickness. This is a fabulous movie. The story is about how a Catholic and Protestant reconcile over a murder during the Troubles. It is a bit slow at parts and confusing if you're not familiar with the conflict in Northern Ireland. James Nesbitt does an excellent job of a playing a man who carries the guilt of his brother's murder and Liam Neeson does an okay job of playing the murderer of Nesbtt's brother. I really liked how the movie ended. That sealed it for me. Also, I thought he was going to kill him.

Sherlock Holmes (BBC TV Show) 
I watched the first two episodes of this TV show while up at Taylor visiting a friend. I watched the last episode while being sick. As a result, I'm dying to watch the second season. It's a great show. My Mom didn't like it because of how the series "modernizes Sherlock, and I agree that he's not as good as he was in the books. Literary accuracy aside, this is a great show.

Break Bad (Season 1) 
I watched the first season of Breaking Bad because my brother suggested it. I found the show to be entertaining though a bit much at points. It's a bit too slow for my liking. Also, Iwas more interested in how they made meth rather then the plot. Not that I'm going into business or anything, but honestly the chemistry was more interesting.

Those are some of the movies and TV shows I watched during my sickness. Now that I'm almost better, I am now returning back to normal and so won't be watching anything any time soon.

American History X, a Thought on Race

I just finished watching the movie, "American History X." In some ways I thought the movie was shallow in that it did not deal deep enough with the issue of reconciliation between races in the United States. Also it looked at an extreme in racial tensions. I would appreciate a more nuanced view. Though, in the ways that it did, I thought were very good. Overall, a phenomenal movie. In this post I want to talk about one particular scene that I believe represents what white Americans are struggling through.

The main character, "respected" white supremacist Derek, tells his younger brother, Danny, that he has given up on the "race war." He has quit hating people. After their conversation, Derek and Danny arrive home and in their bedroom. On the walls are posters of Hitler, white supremacy and a large Nazis flag. The scene is shot showing them calmly taking down all the posters and flag. A bare wall is what remains. This scene struck me.

It struck me because this is what has happened to many white Americans. In an attempt to avoid or get rid of racism and hate, we have torn down the things that have caused so much pain. In result, we have lost our identity as white Americans. Like the brother's bare wall, many Americans lack a strong racial identity because their race has represented so much hate. They shed much of this identity because they don't want to do anything with what it has represented. The result is a gap in their identity. Derek and Danny are no longer racist so who are they? I think many white Americans are struggling with this very question.

My Thought

I believe that it is possible for a white American to being content with his/her race, to say that he/she would not want to be any other race but the one he/she has been given. Furthermore, I think that it is important that as a white American I develop this identity in a healthy way mainly through history.

For instance, I am reading David McCullough's book "John Adams," a great biography of our second president. As a white American I can look at figures in history like John Adams and build my racial identity. Of course Adams had flaws, but he is a part of the white American past (NOT to the exclusion of other races!) and can help us begin to discover more of what it means to be a white American to the benefit of ourselves and those of other races.

Movie Review, Inception (Spoiler Alert!)

Christopher Nolan introduces another mind-altering yet action-filled movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the philosophical depth to the movie though I was disappointed with the lack of plot and character development.

Two Criticisms
First there were many parts of the plot that were rather thin. For instance, the reason the team was attempting to plant an idea into the subject's mind was to destroy a highly competitive company. Okay, what type of company were they attempting to break up, could we get a couple more details besides the fact that it was a really good company? Second, Leonardo DiCaprio's character was well developed, and he did a great job yet this was especially noticeably when the other characters lacked development. Ellen Page's character, Ariadne, was especially noticeable. She was a student of Cobb's father in Paris. She's really smart, is wise but we don't know much else.

The Philosophy of Inception
That being said, let's go on to the more interesting parts of the film. I was left pondering a very important concept. It is an epistemic issue dealing with metaphysics. The movie argued that there is an ultimate reality. (metaphysical belief) The problem that it presented was how do we know if we are in reality. (epistemic issue) The characters used "tokens" as reference points to tell them when they were in reality or not. The key: reference points. This made me think of the famous statement by the French Existentialist Jean-Paul Satre “No finite point has meaning without an infinite reference point."

I don't want to pull any theistic interpreation into Inception because I can't find any evidence that Nolan intended to argue that because there is ultimate reality God must exist, but what I found interesting was: 1. There is an ultimate reality (there is "absolute" truth, truth that is the same no matter which way you look at it and you can't change it.). 2. We are cognitively capable of knowing ultimate reality. In Inception, knowledge came through the tokens, (reference points) which would communicate to the knower (a finite point) whether he was in a dream or reality.

Personal Note
I also enjoyed Nolan's point on letting go and coming to the conclusion that our dreams are not as good as reality. This is found in only one scene of the movie, but it is the climax and focal point of Codd's development. Here, he acknowledges that his wife has died and is ready to move on. Furthermore, he realizes that continuing to imagine her existence is not as good as who she really was. You can dream of someone but it is not as good as actually being with them. Essentially, reality trumps dreams.

Finally, the last scene of the movie shows Cobb seeing his children again. Just before he does, he checks his token (a spinning top that never stops spinning unless it is in reality.) but before the top stops spinning, he sees the faces of his children and runs to them with joy. The camera focuses on the spinning top and the curtain closes before the viewer can tell if its going to stop or not. Great ending: when you are in reality and in relationship with others, your reference point is no longer a material thing (a finite object) but other people.

Inglourious Basterds (Warning: Spoiler)

A quick warning to those who have not seen the movie, "Inglourious Basterds," directed by Quentin Tarantino, this post contains a spoiler.

Part of the plot of "Inglorious Basterds" (IB) is to kill the key leaders of the Nazis Party just as the allies are landing in Normandy during World War II. American soldiers, are chosen to carry out the carnage. most of them are Jews and are already behind enemy lines purposely slaughtering Nazis soldiers and disfiguring them

It is hard to say that I enjoyed IB, but I certainly appreciated Tarantino's work. One part of the movie that bothered me is how hate is presented. It is upheld by "the good guys."

The movie does not portray the Nazis as haters. Colonel Hans Landa is shown to be a rather jolly fellow, maybe a bit off of his rocker. Fredrick Zoller is a flirt and a brave, dashing young man. Hitler is portrayed as an evil, angry man, but the haters are the good guys. Shosanna Dreyfus displays pain and hatred against the Nazis, understandably so. She was a Jew, her family was machine gunned down and The Nazis' pompous disposition toward her furthers this. Half the time she looks like she's about to spit in their time.

Not all of the "good guys" are full of hate. Colonel Raine is simply crazy. But the other inglorious basterds are. Watch how some of them kill and butcher the Germans. And these are the guys who you root for. You are disappointed at their death and cheer as they slaughter the bad guys.

Hatred is dangerous and manipulative. It takes away one's ability to function, to think and live the good life. If at all possible, you should avoid hating others because in the end, it will destroy you. It can be useful, scare your enemies and drive you to perform functions in a better way. Yet one with hate cannot achieve the good life. In the end, hatred leads to sadness, loneliness and a pitiful death. IB ends on a "funny note," the jolly Colonel receiving the mark of a Nazis and two good guys live to drive away in a vehicle. Everyone else dies. What a bummer that everyone does dies, a kid grows up without a father and Aldo Raine and Smithson Utivch no longer can unleash their hatred. The long-term effects of this hatred on the individuals who had it is saddening. Yeah sure WWII ends a year early and what not, but hatred was not necessary to set up the operation to kill the heads of the Nazis Party.

If I was in the position to end a war, but had to give up my life to end it (with my side winning of course), then I would in the least consider dying an worthwhile option and if their probably was not time to think, probably would automatically act so. Wouldn't anyone want to give themselves up to end such a terrible thing as war?

But there is no need for hatred. That is what bothered me about IB, that hatred was not seen as it really is, as a vice which stinks to have as a part of one's character.