Until this Friday, I worked at a distribution centre for a company that sells stationery--pencils, pens, rulers, that kind of thing. Generally, I picked and bagged a variety of goods that stores and schools had ordered for back-to-school, and sent them off to the packers, who fitted them into boxes, and stuffed them with newspapers. Usually, the packers used bubble wrap, which was awesome, and at other times they stuffed the boxes with 6-week-old copies of the National Post--lord knows how they got them. It caused some of my headline-reading co-workers to jokingly comment "Michael Jacson died! Did you know?" all the way into late August.
One day last week, as I passed the packing tables, I was stopped by an acquaintance by the name of Ed. "Hey, Aaron!" he called. He pointed to a stylized graphic of Brüno taken from the Post and said "This is what Chan used to look like, eh?"
Chan was a middle-aged asian man, with black hair, and a strong accent. He stood at the table next, regarding this scene with amusement. I looked back at the graphic, which looked like it had been styled by a six-year old.
"Well, he looked alright back then. I gotta say, emitting pink is a rare quality in a man," I said, and they laughed.
"Oh, he brought in all the ladies." Ed returned. I frowned.
"I find that hard to believe," I said, pointing at the image, "seeing as he's gay." More laughter.
"Really?" replied Ed.
"Well, yeah. He is gay. Water is wet. The sun is hot."
Ed shook his head, calling "Ooooooooh!" He might as well have added, 'Are you going to take that?!'
I didn't mean that as an insult, so I said "No, he is gay. Brüno is gay." Really, really gay: I've seen the film. It was Ed's turn to frown.
"Who's Brüno?"
I just had to laugh. "That's it. I'm out of here. Goodnight, everybody!"
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
District 9 Review
In District 9, aliens come to Earth, and their neither cuddly in the E.T. vein or horribly menacing in the...Alien vein. A little brutish, sure, but this is still one of the most even-handed portraits of aliens I've ever seen in a film.
The aliens come not to invade, but because they can't leave, and are apparently quite sick. They are moved to a ghetto in Johannesburg, South Africa, above which their giant ship constantly hovers. They stay, and over a few years, they establish a permanent residence, which becomes a slum. Their population becomes ridden with crime and poverty, and are subjected to...racism, by the locals. (Speciesism? Planetism?)
It's a setup that leaves a few questions; the director uses a lot of quick-cuts to establish a documentary feel, and I'm sure a few more answers are hidden in the early scenes. Still, there's a lot we don't know about the aliens, and the film doesn't seem to care. Though some found the aliens difficult to care for because of their decidedly-not-cuddly appearance, I found the same difficult because I could only occasionally tell what the aliens' intentions as a race were.
Instead, it chooses to focus on the forced eviction of the aliens from District 9 to 10, the MNU operative Wilkus Mewe, and the various issues that spring from living in District 9. This is a good thing: the character (amongst other things) undergoes a major transformation, and is both believable and realistic. He begins the film working for MNU, an international weapons company that manages the slum, and is head of the mission to relocate the aliens. After an incounter with an alien device suddenly makes him very valuable, he finds himself on the run, hiding in the very same District.
The story has an obvious parallel with the apartheid that occurred in South America a few decades ago, as well as any story involving a mistreated ethnic group, or ghetto. The film doesn't ram the message down our throats, thankfully, but the director's intent is clear, and the film shows a crude, cruel world that confirms everything bad you've ever suspected about politicians, police, criminals, desperate men and the injustices present within the human heart. Perhaps it revels a little too much in pointing out the wrongdoing of all humans (and some aliens), but as a racial allegory, I suppose it has reason to do so.
The film is action-packed, intelligent, and well-made. It's one of the best films of the summer, and it comes highly recommended.
The aliens come not to invade, but because they can't leave, and are apparently quite sick. They are moved to a ghetto in Johannesburg, South Africa, above which their giant ship constantly hovers. They stay, and over a few years, they establish a permanent residence, which becomes a slum. Their population becomes ridden with crime and poverty, and are subjected to...racism, by the locals. (Speciesism? Planetism?)
It's a setup that leaves a few questions; the director uses a lot of quick-cuts to establish a documentary feel, and I'm sure a few more answers are hidden in the early scenes. Still, there's a lot we don't know about the aliens, and the film doesn't seem to care. Though some found the aliens difficult to care for because of their decidedly-not-cuddly appearance, I found the same difficult because I could only occasionally tell what the aliens' intentions as a race were.
Instead, it chooses to focus on the forced eviction of the aliens from District 9 to 10, the MNU operative Wilkus Mewe, and the various issues that spring from living in District 9. This is a good thing: the character (amongst other things) undergoes a major transformation, and is both believable and realistic. He begins the film working for MNU, an international weapons company that manages the slum, and is head of the mission to relocate the aliens. After an incounter with an alien device suddenly makes him very valuable, he finds himself on the run, hiding in the very same District.
The story has an obvious parallel with the apartheid that occurred in South America a few decades ago, as well as any story involving a mistreated ethnic group, or ghetto. The film doesn't ram the message down our throats, thankfully, but the director's intent is clear, and the film shows a crude, cruel world that confirms everything bad you've ever suspected about politicians, police, criminals, desperate men and the injustices present within the human heart. Perhaps it revels a little too much in pointing out the wrongdoing of all humans (and some aliens), but as a racial allegory, I suppose it has reason to do so.
The film is action-packed, intelligent, and well-made. It's one of the best films of the summer, and it comes highly recommended.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Miley Cyrus, or why any press is good press
At the Teen Choice awards the monday before last, Miley Cyrus performed and danced to a new song of hers, "Party in the U.S.A." It raised a ton of contraversy, because she looked like that and--arguably--pole-danced. She is sixteen, like many who watched at home. (judge for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDu2rdrwjWM)
Really, this makes sense to me. When it comes to female pop stars, there is a startlingly consistent trend: become successful when young from first album, then develop more sexual image on second or third album/when the artist is almost out of her teens/'as a natural progression of her style' (yeah, right). It happened with Britney Spears, with Christina Aguleira...almost all of them, unless they had a sexual image to begin with (i.e. Shakira). The exceptions to this rule often went on to pose in Playboy anyway, when interest in their career was dying (i.e. Tiffany, Debbie Gibson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiffany_(singer)#Back_in_public_eye).
Miley is too young to sell, and like Hilary Duff, Disney is waiting a bit before they change her look...too much. Slowly, though, the transition is being made, and I think that is smart, if a little sad. Here, her dance moves hinted (strongly) at latent sexuality, and the bottom half of her outfit reinforced it. It wasn't out-and-out pole dancing, but it didn't need to be.
I don't think even the honchos at Disney expected this much discussion, though.
Later that week, the Toronto Star listed the top 10 songs on iTunes. "Party in the USA" was the fourth most downloaded song that week; it's also number one this week on the Billboard Digital Songs chart (http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/41000/week-ending-aug-16-2009-king-of-country-boots-king-of-pop/). I'd never heard the song on radio, and it hasn't received much play yet. I wonder why...
Source: http://www.thestar.com/article/680434
Welcome.
Hello, all. My name is Aaron, as some of you may know. Every day, I find myself thinking: about politics, friends, recent events, music, the workings of the world, some joke I've come up with. This is a place for me to display those thoughts. I hope you find interesting what I have to say.
--Aaron
--Aaron
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