A MONSTER CALLS and THE MONSTER IS IN ME

I went and saw the film A MONSTER CALLS last night and something happened to me. Movies have a way of speaking to me and moving me, often in ways that have nothing to do with the subject matter of the film itself. The monster that called in this film was a young boy’s mother’s illness and his need to deal with the feelings around his mother’s illness and dying.

The monster that has been calling to me is something else entirely, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. This past election has brought forth a monster that needs to be addressed. No, the monster is not Trump. I’d like to make it be Trump. That would be easy, and I along with many others, have been trying to do exactly that….make Trump out to be the monster. Others made Hillary out to be the monster and now after the election that has probably shifted to her supporters. But the issue is a lot more complicated than who got elected or who didn’t.

You see in the movie we discover that the real monster was the one that lived inside the boy….that needed a voice, needed to be expressed. The ‘monster’ that came to help him did so by telling him stories and it was those stories that reached inside my soul and spoke to me.

Monster: There was once an invisible man who was growing tired of being not seen. It was not that he was actually invisible. It was just that people had become used to not seeing him. One day the invisible man couldn't stand it anymore. He kept wondering, "if no one sees you, are you really there at all?"

One of the stories was about an invisible man who grew tired of not being seen. I believe Trump was elected by many who have felt invisible. I admit that many people who live in rural counties are not people I have connected with or even tried to understand. There are others who hold different beliefs than I do who have not felt supported. In the film the invisible man acted out with violence and rage in order to be seen and heard. We’ve seen lots of that in our country too. So how can we see these people in a way that they feel validated without their having to resort to violence or without our having to give up our civil rights? That is a question it would behoove all of us to ask ourselves. How can we sit down and have a civil conversation so that we might begin to understand each other?

I believe we start by assuming that they aren’t horrible people. Anyone who believes differently than we do or voted differently than we did is not a horrible person. They have ideas and needs and voted in a way they hoped would help get those realized.

There is no THEM and US. There is no GOOD guy and no BAD guy. Maybe even Trump isn’t a bad guy. I don’t like him, but I’m working to get to a point where I can see him differently. Maybe his supporters can help me get there.

Monster: “There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.”

“Because humans are complicated beasts, the monster said. How can a queen be both a good witch and a bad witch? How can a prince be a murderer and a saviour? How can an apothecary be evil-tempered but right-thinking? How can a parson be wrong-thinking but good-hearted? How can invisible men make themselves more lonely by being seen?

The tree monster also told a couple of stories about people that at first you thought were bad, and then as the story unfolded you realized perhaps there was more to the story than we saw at first. That’s the place I am trying to reach. I am tired of being angry. I am tired of being scared. I am tired of making Trump out to be this ogre or monster that is going to ruin my country. He’s going to be our president for 4 years and while I will always be wary and watchful that our civil rights don’t get stomped upon….I need to find a place of peace. So how do I, how do we begin?

I don’t know that I have the answer yet, but I’m feeling a little more hopeful. It begins with Conscious Conversations. It begins by turning our EXCLAMATIONS into QUESTION MARKS. Rather than ranting and raving on Facebook….how about we start asking each other questions and listening to the responses. We may still disagree, but at least we can be civil with each other.

So to all the Trump supporters out there I say TELL ME MORE….tell me what you see in this man that I am not seeing. Don’t yell at me or make me wrong and I’ll try not to do the same to you. After I listen to you, perhaps you might be willing to listen to me. We may not agree with each other, but we need to find a way to speak to each other. Our Congress hasn’t found a way yet, but maybe we can model the behavior for them.

Speaking with civility doesn’t mean we have to lie down and accept everything. I am not talking about normalizing behavior that feels wrong or off for me. I will still march on the 21^st. I will still call my Senators and Congressmen when I need to express my opinion. I will still speak out if I feel lies are being told and I may even still post those on Facebook. But for me, I need more. I need a shift to happen.

There is a monster calling and that monster lives inside of all of us. It needs to be heard. Are we willing to listen and are we willing to speak our truth? I want to be there…I’m working on it….how about you?

The Lobster

Lobster is on my list of favorite foods, but I doubt I would ever want to become one. Oscar-nominated Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (‘Dogtooth’) casts Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and Lea Seydoux in a surreal parable about a future world where people are forced to couple up or be turned into animals. David (Colin Farrell) whose wife just left him, has been thrust into the dreaded single status. According to law he has 45 days to find a suitable mate or be turned into the animal of his choice. The animal David chooses, should he not succeed in finding a partner, is the lobster.

I will admit, this movie was weird. My husband found it too weird and wondered why the heck we went to see it. However, it was that very weirdness that made me absolutely love this film. I watch a lot of movies, and I particularly appreciate movies that don’t fit the usual predictable formulas, and I especially love movies that have something important to say. The Lobster is a commentary about the pressures our society puts on finding one’s soulmate.

I grew up in a culture that touted marriage as the preferred state. Single women, especially, were looked down upon and labeled spinsters. I guess I could be grateful that at least being single wasn’t illegal. Yet I somehow felt like a total failure for being unable to find the right and perfect partner.

In The Lobster, the right and perfect partner takes on a whole different meaning. It wasn’t just that each single person had to find a partner…that person had to have the same defining characteristic. In fact, except for David, none of the other characters had names. They were known for their specific physical trait. There was the man who limped, the woman who had constant nose bleeds and the man with a lisp. What were the odds of finding someone with those exact traits? The pressures were so great that one man deliberately smashed his nose so that he too would be a nose bleeder.

I wouldn’t call the film a comedy and yet I found it to be quite funny. It is told in a serious deadpan manner that kept me engaged throughout. The first part of the film is about this alternate society and its rules and logic and is filmed in the hotel where the singles are imprisoned. The second part of the film is in the surrounding forest where a ban of renegades called the Loners live. The Loners have rejected the society’s rules, and yet have rather strict rules of their own. Here coupledom is shunned. One has to remain alone and celibate or they are severely punished and even maimed. No form of intimacy is allowed. David escapes into the forest and joins these Loners and there ends up finding a woman (Rachel Weisz) he finds attractive. I won’t spoil the ending, but suffice it to say….it gets more interesting and even ‘weirder’, if that is possible.

If you like films that do not fit the normal formulaic and predictable patterns then you will love this film. I did!

Serendipity

My blog has been neglected of late. I've been very busy in rehearsals for the Sun City Follies. However, I found this article which I'd like to share with you, and hopefully I'll be back writing my own posts soon....enjoy.


Reprinted from Matthew Welsh's Spiritual Media Blog Newsletter. 
For more information about Spiritual Media Blog please visit 
http://www.SpiritualMediaBlog.com/

One common theme that shows up in movies that really inspires
me is serendipity - in fact one movie I enjoyed that explores these
chance encounters is a love story aptly named Serendipity.

      This phenomenon is one of the life's great mysteries.  You
know, why do certain people show up in our lives at the time they
show up or why have we been drawn to a particular place, idea or
event?  I think these might be clues from the Universe about how
to manifest our destiny.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe describes this when he says. . .

      "The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence
moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never
otherwise have occurred . . . unforeseen incidents, meetings, and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have
come his way."

       These opportunities may reveal themselves in the form of 
unexplainable coincidences.  For example, you may just happen to
come across an acquaintance or stranger who has a business
opportunity for you.  Or, you may hear a song on the radio, read a
book or watch a movie with a message that is perfectly applicable
to your current life circumstances.

      Whether you call these meaningful coincidences Divine
Providence, Synchronicity, or Serendipity, it can be very helpful
to pay attention to them because they are hints about the next step
or opportunity you should take or simply pleasant signs that we
are on the right track =). 

In Love and Light,
Matthew Welsh, Esq.
Creator of www.SpiritualMediaBlog.com
--The News Source for Spiritual Entertainment--

DIVERGENT: Faction, Factionless or Divergent?

Unlike The Hunger Games, I went into the film Divergent with no knowledge or expectations. I had not read the books or even heard about them before watching the movie. I love films that bring up interesting questions and make me think, and this one did not disappoint. In fact, I was so intrigued that I rushed to get the first book in the trilogy … finished it in no time and quickly read the remaining books.

Divergent takes place in a future Chicago 100 years after an apocalyptic war. The city is fenced off from the rest of the world, and when the Great Peace was established society was separated into five different factions each one dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (intelligence), Amity (kindness) and Dauntless (bravery). The factions were formed in a belief that this could keep the peace. The Candor thought dishonesty caused conflict, the Abnegation, selfishness, the Erudite, stupidity, Amity believed being unkind led to the war and Dauntless believed bravery would keep war at bay.

Once a year all the 16 year olds are given a test that determines which faction they belong. They then attend a Choosing Ceremony where they are given a choice: stay with their family and faction of birth or choose a different faction. Beatrice (Tris) Prior belongs to the Abnegation faction and her tests were ‘inconclusive,’ which she discovers means she is Divergent. People who are Divergent score high in multiple factions, and they are feared by many who want to eliminate them.

The government is run by the Abnegation, who being selfless have no desire for power. While this sounds appealing…who wouldn’t want politicians who are selfless and not after their own gain or power, it also seems a bit confusing. Wouldn’t selfless also include kindness? And why would they not also be truthful? We have lots of politicians who aren’t truthful and we know how dysfunctional that can be. I can’t imagine anyone who is selfless being deceitful unless doing so would somehow benefit the other.  I can understand why they might not be dauntless or brave or even intelligent.

This film raises some interesting points. Is it beneficial to focus more on one particular trait to the exclusion of the others? There is an online test you can take, which I took and tested as divergent. I imagine everyone who takes the test will find they are divergent. I doubt there is anyone who has one quality to the exclusion of all others. We may be stronger in one or two, but my guess is only someone with a mental illness would be totally devoid of all of the other factions.  http://divergentthemovie.com/aptitudetest

Another element of the movie that I found very compelling was the tests that each faction had to endure to qualify for their particular faction. For the Dauntless it was facing your fears. I think all of us could benefit by facing our fears to some extent. What I found incredulous was that the character Four had only four fears. Wow! I’d like to think I don’t have many fears, but I suspect there are a bunch of them hidden in my consciousness. I’m not sure I’d want to have to face them in a simulation, but I imagine it could be pretty powerful. Some of my fears I’m sure are hidden, and some poke their heads up on an almost daily basis. While I have many of the common ones like the fear of spiders and snakes, I also have a very unhealthy and unnerving fear of developing Alzheimer’s. I’m not sure why I have that fear, but I’d love to fight it in a simulation and crush it once and for all. Whenever it pops its head I simply do a ‘denial’ and an ‘affirmation’ to send it on its way…but fighting it in a duel and winning sounds pretty empowering.

I’ve read the other two books and I know what happens with the whole society and the Factions and the Divergents. I won’t spoil it here for those of you waiting to watch the movies. But I will say this….if you liked Divergent, you will love continuing with the story. I can’t wait to write about Insurgent when it comes out in March of next year.

TRANSCENDENCE

Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, scientist, inventor, and futurist who has said that by 2029 computers will have consciousness. Bill Gates has called Kurzweil the best predictor of the future, and it’s also been said that he has predicted the future with more accuracy than anyone else in history. A documentary called Transcendent Man: Prepare to Evolve came out in 2010 that shares the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil.

A new movie called Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp, Morgan Freeman and Rebecca Hall has brought Ray’s idea to the Hollywood screen. The main character is Dr. Will Caster (Depp) a leading scientist and researcher in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Like Ray, his life’s work has been centered on the idea of mastering the singularity, or as he calls it ‘transcendence’.  We are introduced to PINN (Physically Independent Neural Network) who can identify someone who walks into the room and when asked ‘can you prove you are self-aware?’ counters with ‘can you prove you are self-aware?’ I tried asking SIRI that question and got ‘no comment’ and ‘I don’t really like these arbitrary questions’. Both PINN and SIRI dodged the question, although PINN’s answer was a bit more probing. While SIRI said she didn’t ‘like’ my question, she does not really experience emotions or even preferences.

While creating an AI that exhibits emotions is the task Will set out to accomplish, I don’t believe he was successful. What he was successful at, with the help of his partner in life Evelyn (Rebecca Hall), was uploading his consciousness into PINN as his body was dying. While it certainly looked and sounded like the Will Caster we had briefly viewed at the beginning of the film, this cyber Will seemed devoid of all emotions.

Once Will is connected to the Internet there is no stopping his power. While some of what he begins doing, like healing and restoring the sick and disabled, seems philanthropic, it begs the question: just because the power is available should it be used at all cost? Would you be happy you’d been healed if it changed who you were fundamentally without your choice or knowledge?

Throughout this film I couldn’t help but think of Ray Kurzweil and his desire to recreate his father who died when he was a young man. Is Ray correct in saying that computers will have consciousness in my lifetime? It certainly seems possible, but I think we have a ways to go before we can make sure that this new evolutionary ‘being’ also has a conscience, a value system and a soul.

OSCAR PREDICTIONS FOR 2014

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to write here, but I’m retiring from ministry this weekend, so I’m anticipating I will have much more time to dedicate to writing about what I love: Movies!

It seems fitting that I’m retiring on the Sunday the Academy Awards will be shown. It will be a full day with church, my retirement party and then the Oscars in the evening, but I’m ready!

I always make it a point to see every film nominated for Best Picture and as many others as I can manage. I am blessed to have married a wonderful man who also loves the movies and together we’ve seen all 9 nominated films. So here are my predictions for the top six Academy Awards.

BEST PICTURE: I find it amazing that out of the nine films nominated five of them are based on a true story. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed that The Book Thief wasn’t included in any of the nominations. I found it an incredibly touching film that moved me at my core. Also, I missed out on seeing Inside Llewyn Davis so I can’t comment on whether or not that film should have been included. All of the films nominated were good for different reasons, but I believe the film that will win the prize will be 12 Years a Slave. American Hustle has received quite a bit of buzz, but I don’t think it will take home many, if any Oscars. 12 Years a Slave is a film that was extremely difficult to watch and left me feeling ashamed of my race, but it is totally deserving of Best Picture and seems to have the momentum.

BEST DIRECTOR: It isn’t often that Best Picture and Best Director Awards are split, but I believe that will happen this year. Alfonso Cuaron deserves the statue for Gravity. The film was mesmerizing and left me asking myself ‘how’d they do that?’ This film will take home quite a few more Oscars. I predict Oscars for Gravity for Best Film Editing, Cinematography, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

BEST ACTOR: Chiwetel Ejiofor could possibly win for 12 Years a Slave, but I believe it will and should go to Matthew McConaughey. First of all, Hollywood often rewards actors/actresses who go to great physical extremes for their character, and McConaughey lost about 45 pounds for this role. As someone who is presently working on losing a few pounds, I admire his tenacity. He was also quite riveting and believable in the role.

BEST ACTRESS: This one is tough. Meryl Streep was awesome in August: Osage County, but she’s already won 3 Academy Awards and most people think she’s won even more than that as she’s been nominated 18 times. There has been a lot of talk about Amy Adams, and while she was good, I don’t believe she will win. When I saw Sandra Bullock in Gravity I knew she would be nominated. It has to be difficult to act in a film basically alone and against a green screen much of the time. However, the actress whose has been raking in all the awards (very deservedly) is Cate Blanchett for her role in Blue Jasmine and I believe she will take home the Oscar as well.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: This one feels like a slam dunk. It will be Jared Leto from Dallas Buyer’s Club….no contest. All of the other actors were great. Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips, Michael Fessbender in 12 Years a Slave, Bradley Cooper in American Hustle and Jonah Hill of The Wolf of Wall Street are all great actors, they just picked the wrong year to compete.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  I know there is a lot of buzz about Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle and she just won last year, so there is some momentum for her to win two years in a row. There is also some sentiment for June Squibb to finally win an Oscar for her role in Nebraska. However, I believe the statue will go to Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave. She has certainly won the hearts of the world with her heart-wrenching performance and I, for one, can’t wait to see what she wears on the Red Carpet.

I did not see any of the films nominated for BEST ANIMATED FEATURE, although I intend to see Frozen soon and the word among critics seems to be predicting it to win.

The Academy Awards is only a few days away and I’m looking forward to Ellen DeGeneres as host once again. My husband and I will each fill out our ballots and sit down in our living room on Sunday night to enjoy the show. I almost hope some of my predictions don’t come true as it seems like the Awards show has become way too predictable. I miss the days when strange and unpredictable things happened….like someone streaking out across the stage. Also, is it too much to ask for some interesting acceptance speeches…. forget the long list of people to thank and please tell us something unique and memorable!

It won’t matter to me how late the show runs as I’ll be retired. Unfortunately my husband will have to get up early to walk the dog and go to work….ah well. Life is Sweet. See you at the movies!