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philosopher-8
Reviews
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Typical Tarantino Snuff Film
So let me get this straight. It is bad for Germans to brutally murder Jews. It is good for Jews to brutally murder Germans. In fact, it is so good, that we cheer for the murderers.
Nobody sees anything wrong here?
Newsflash: The Jews are not the only people on the planet who suffer. And that statement applies also to 1936-1945. And more Germans died in the WW2 years than all the Jews killed in all the camps.
Why don't we just take some good lessons from that horrible time, and call it even? The main lesson being KILLING PEOPLE IS BARBARIC.
This is just another typical Tarantino exposition of his own perversion. But since he does it with 'style', he gets a pass.
Star Trek: The Empath (1968)
Underrated Gem in an age without Empathy
It saddens me to see how many people are utterly lacking in any perspective on this episode. This episode is very different from any other, and perhaps this explains some of the pointless critique I have seen.
Deforrest Kelly called this his favorite episode. Those of you who fail to see its beauty are simply lacking in any artistic sense or human empathy.
Of course there are mistakes with effects, plot, etc. Show me an episode of ANY show from the 60's that is pristine. Show me any Star Trek episode with a perfect plot. This episode isn't about these things. It is about Empathy. It is about love. It is about the ability to perceive the feelings of others, and to incorporate these so completely into your own emotional and mental state that you must act in such a way as to serve the interests of others just as you serve your own.
This episode shows the pure love that exists between the big 3, and how each man will do his damnedest to protect the other, even unto death. This goes to the extent of even violating normal codes of conduct. This love is even expressed by Spock. Love is not only a gushy, touchy-feely thing. It is also respect, admiration, and duty. It is the moral imperative to serve one's comrades, and to sacrifice oneself if needed. No episode shows this so poignantly as this one, and this message is at the heart of all that is humane and civilized.
Torture? Gratuitous? Not at all. Anybody who has ever lived a significant life knows that life involves all kinds of torture on a continual basis. It is all around us, in our schools, our jobs, and sometimes even our relationships. It is part of the natural world too, and we can even say that life itself is often torturous.
The episode is a test for Gem, and the quickest way to evoke her empathic response is to injure somebody for no reason. This is exactly how any scientist would go about the experiment, were the test subjects considered to be below us like mice.
This episode loudly proclaims the most powerful of all of the messages in the series: It is our capacity to feel what others feel and to act in the interests of others that makes civilized and humane. It is this which ensures our survival.
But, as we all can see from the comments here, few people understand this. They do this for we live in an age where empathy is bad taste, and love is a cause for ridicule.
Lady in the Water (2006)
Only unempathic zombies hate this movie
There are cries of "Narcissism!" from the assembled delineators of taste, simply because the writer cast himself in a positive role of great import. Who Cares? I couldn't care less who the actors are as long as the story presented conveys feelings and ideas of great worth.
This film does.
This film shows human alchemy. Each average person is, under normal conditions, really of no actual worth to humanity. Most people just go through life without really DOING anything of value for the world at large.
But within the same exact people there exists the potential to do great things, and to be singularly important.
The way that we can turn these base humans into beings of lustrous gold is for them to be given a cause to strive for TOGETHER. When this happens, each average individual finds their unique voice and special role that benefits the entire group.
This is exactly what this film shows. And by people filling their roles and working symbiotically together for a Great Cause, we see how everyone (except the critic - just like many of you out there) is empowered and feels a greater joy and purpose in their lives.
This film INTENTIONALLY set out to irritate you sniping, anal, critics. M. Night cast himself in this role specifically to irritate you, and by doing so, to make you all examples of how humanity has lost its focus. YOU people are the ones filled with pretension and arrogance, for you have utterly failed to see past the irrelevancy of CASTING and focus instead on the MEANING of the film.
It is you people who cause mankind to no longer listen. And this is precisely why we inhabit a world so cold, lonely, and futile.
This film presents a plan for the way forward, just as The Cookbook is said to do. And in this way, M. Night is completely justified in casting himself as he has done. This film, itself, IS THE COOKBOOK. But only few of us seem to have a working heart anymore, or a brain that can understand the beauty beyond mere surface imperfections.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The point of the entire Star Wars Cycle
The Star Wars Cycle is a depiction of how Democracies and Totalitarian States are both unstable, and how the one form leads to the other.
In Revenge of the Sith, we have the example of how a Democracy is inevitably corrupted by a faction within, and how they ultimately seize power and transform the government into a Police State. This occurs because the masses are poor stewards of power, and always relinquish it eventually to forces disinterested in their welfare.
Any government that is founded upon the consensus of the masses, through their representatives, is built upon a foundation of sand. In times of stress and fear, the people willingly cede their power to the government so as to become more 'secure'. Thus, over the decades and centuries, the people gradually lose control of the government by degrees. In times of peace, their apathy creates a climate of disinterest. And then when crises appear, the people respond fearfully by further abandoning personal autonomy and power.
The forces of power that seek to defend the people (Jedi) are bound by rules and conventions that limit the scope of their actions, and that prevent them from fighting as directly and as potently as their opponents. The forces of power that seek to use the people (Sith) are bound by no such scruples or niceties, and can therefore operate with more strength. This is how the Sith win.
Going forward to Return of the Jedi, here we see how Totalitarian States ultimately fail, are defeated, and a New Democracy is born.
No state that wields power by the force of fear alone can last forever. The tighter their grip becomes, the more they create passionate rebels from their stock of apathetic citizens. And so revolution is inevitable. And though these may often fail, eventually one succeeds. Also, here we see how the power of those who fight for the people (Jedi) are able to operate in a more potent and unfettered manner, since they no longer are constrained by concerns of the Civil Rights of the people under their official control. Here, they represent the revolutionaries instead of the government, and so they are free to fight with their full potency. This is why the Jedi win.
All of this is made clear by Revenge of the Sith, which ties together the unity of the entire cycle. We should look at the cycle as a true cycle, where the outcome of Episode VI leads us to a High Point in the civilization, lasting several decades or a few centuries, and which inevitably leads us to the beginning of Episode I all over again.
The Star Wars saga might also be called The Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker. But here we see the genius of Lucas. Only by combining Sith and Jedi tendencies, and the ways in which they wield power, can any balance be achieved. And only by achieving balance can we stop this cycle between Democracy and Totalitarianism. We must bring balance to The Force to bring peace and also freedom to the world.