Monday, November 27, 2006

Rewind

Phil asked me what brought that last post to mind, seeing as how it's been a while since it came up. I started reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky recently, hence the title of the post, and there was a quote in there that had something to do with it. Also, I've been reading a running dialogue on the TV series The Wire, including some of the people who make it, and a quote by creator David Simon has come up more than once. "(T)his season is to take argument with those who feel that if you're born without privilege, but make the right set of choices, that you will be spared. To do away with that bit of national mythology." The season centers around middle schoolers slowly being sucked into drugs and violence by their inner city Baltimore surroundings.

Naturally, that sentiment is a lot easier to come by when you're writing about inner city African-Americans, but being a white man, Simon has caught some flak for his take on the subject. Whether or not you feel it's warranted depends on if you believe in the universality of human experience, which most artists, including myself, take for granted. There is no human experience that is completely foreign to me, because I am human.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Reading Dostoevsky

Some time ago, my roommate brought up the idea that maybe it's a mistake for parents to tell their children they can grow up to be anything they want, because when they grow up and realize this isn't true, they become disillusioned and (I would add) maybe even resentful. Would it be better if your folks skipped the optimism and let their kids decide for themselves what was possible and, by extension, not possible in their futures?

Most if not all people reach that conclusion on their own eventually, and at least superficially this seems a profoundly anti-American idea. After all, our media is full of stories where people overcome the circumstances of their upbringing to succeed in the world and grow rich and/or famous in the process. Movies are made about their lives to inspire the parents of the next generation to continue the cycle.

But what about the (vast) majority of people who don't? What if those same people who strive would strive regardless of what they're encouraged to believe as kids, and those who settle for a decent life quietly lived staring up at them would be happier as adults without ever having the possibility dangled in front of them, just out of reach in a future that will never come? Would we be better off both as individuals and a country without the expectations?

Well, I can't quite believe that.

While it's true there was plenty of innovation and economy prior to the very idea of America, much of it was relatively anonymous or to the credit of the aristocracy at the time, and it's more than luck that drives America to still be the dream for countless people all over the world. The promise of America lies in its ideas, foremost among them that you can do what you set your mind to do. Whether that involves working a farm or starting a media empire, we believe the opportunity is there, even despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.

And if we as a people ever stop believing that could be us on the TV screens or in the White House, America is likely to become a far darker place, because the impulses and moods kept in check by that hope have been decidedly uglier since at least Vietnam. Fear, paranoia, and a will to dominate are dangerous in any country, but as armed as the U.S. has been and will remain, woe to the country that eclipses us in the future. We're going to need to hold onto our ideas and ideals because they're the most effective weapon we have against our own darker natures.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Day trippin'

I managed to come down with the worst sore throat of my life by the time we left Pedernales on Saturday, although I didn't realize it until I woke up around midnight. I got about eight hours of sleep total over the weekend, given the whole sleeping on the ground thing.

I think I realize now why it had been so long since I'd been camping - I don't enjoy it very much.

Seeing the falls was really cool and hanging out with friends was fun, but I think I prefer the idea of day trips ending in a nice, soft bed at night. It was definitely worth seeing, though.

Speaking of worth seeing, if you skipped The Prestige a few weeks ago, definitely check it out. This is one creepy, mind-bending, suspense movie, reminiscent of Memento. It's based on a novel, but is at no time less than compelling watching. And the ending is a kick in the gut, even if you see it coming.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Getting animated

I saw Flushed Away after work today, Aardman's new computer-animated film. It retained all the wit and inventiveness of the claymation films in the move to the new medium, a feat in and of itself. It's also one of the best films I've seen this year. I envy kids growing up now the quality of their animated entertainment. I watched cartoons growing up, but the only thing that really holds up to adult viewing is Batman: The Animated Series on the television side, and some of the Disney movies. (I'm referring to what was originally released while I was a kid, not the classics.) Between Pixar, Aardman, Miyazaki, and Dreamworks, there have been more great animated movies released in the last five to ten years than in all of my childhood combined. This is undoubtedly the reason I'm still such a fan of the medium that I go see them in the theater by myself, as I did tonight.

I'm going camping this weekend for the first time in almost ten years, so I had to go buy a tent. I went to Wal-Mart looking for just a couple things, including the tent. Both the air filter and the headlamp bulb I needed for my car were out of stock, the only models of each that they didn't have. I told the woman helping me there must be a lot of Eclipse owners shopping there lately.