5 movies

During the break at the end of 2021, I watched 5 movies on Netflix. There was no theme or special reason for those chosen. One, I had selected earlier, but got to it just now. The five are Gladiator, Midnight Run, The Nightingale, Skater Girl and The Next Life.

Gladiator is driven by the malevolence of the character played by Joaquin Phoenix, Commodus. This was a conspicuous movie when it came out; I had not explored it then and it had ebbed away in my consciousness. But I enjoyed the film because of the acting but also how human differences were portrayed in a historical context. It is also notable that it is until only relatively recently that the need to dispose of political enemies through killing was the norm.

Midnight Run was the only film of those I watched set in the United States. It had too much smoking and swearing, seeming gratuitous at times. But then, with smoking in public, at least, that's how things used to be. But the story was done well; it seemed to go on, but the pacing was good. This was the film requiring the least amount of brain power to process.

The Nightingale is an Australian movie set in the early days of imperial conquest of Tasmania. It has very brutal scenes of rape and murder. This is one of two films I watched that were directed by women. It portrays the absolute minimization of the value of human life in times of conflict and how it renders a human psyche as an object to torture. The complete lack of empathy or human consideration is portrayed. Given the different language and completely foreign cultural backgrounds this kind of behavior is not unexpected, but still completely shocking.

Skater Girl was set in a village in India; which actually had a skate park constructed as part of the movie. This is the other movie directed by a woman. I cried at times during this movie, out of both happiness and how traditions, so important to maintaining a culture, can impinge on the hopes and dreams of young people. There are a few unresolved threads in the movie, but it is saved by the child actors and the unlikely ending. This is the one I had selected a few months ago.

And The Next Life, despite the preview in Netflix done in English, is set in Italy and the characters speak in Italian. It portrays people at an edge of society, pushed away in some cases by their own choices and others, particularly the children, through no choice of their own. There is some sentimentality in the film, with some harshness avoided. But it does try to explore how these situations affect human lives.

Not sure if I will watch any movies for a while, but these are the ones I watched between Christmas and New Years Day.

One Word

A small boy heard about an uncle in his family who everyone made fun of. It was said that if you went to visit the uncle, he would give you something. But the only thing he ever gave, it was said, was one word.

The boy laughed with the others whenever they talked about this uncle, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he was curious about his uncle's gift.

As the boy grew older, he was aware of his success at school, accomplishments athletically and good standing among his peers. But he was unsure about what his future held for him, and at times he was afraid that things would not turn out right.

He was accepted to a good college and earned a degree that made him sought after by companies who wanted to hire him. As he spoke to representatives of these big companies, he realized that he still had curiosity about his uncle.

His parents helped pay for his trip to see his uncle. The now young man had actually met the uncle when he was younger, but it was only in a group setting. Now he would get a chance to talk to him one-to-one.

As he traveled to see his uncle, his thoughts went back and forth between thinking his uncle would be of no help to him, and his strong desire to hear what his uncle had to say.

Finally, he reached his uncle's apartment and he rang the bell. When the door opened, the young man saw an older man he recognized. But now in person, he realized how soft the features of his uncle's face were and the comfort he felt as his uncle greeted him.

They sat and talked about many small things, then about the young man's family and what his plans were now that he had graduated. The young man finally felt like he could talk to his uncle about the real reason for his visit.

He told his uncle about what he had heard when he was younger; that people said his uncle would give them something when they visited, but it was just one word.

His uncle looked at him and smiled, then said, "Yes, that's right. Most people don't realize that only a small change in your thinking is needed to make big changes in your life. So, if people ask me for advice, I first ask them a question."

The young man was slightly confused, but eager to go on. "What question do you ask?", he prompted his uncle.

His uncle smiled, then looked at him and said, "It is a simple question, but you must give me a thoughtful answer. Tell me - what are you trying to do with your life?"

The young man was still a little unsure, but he had been answering similar questions when he went through his interviews with the big companies. He thought for a long time, then said to his uncle:

"I am trying to achieve financial success, happiness in my family and a place where I can help the world."

His uncle gave a small grunt of acknowledgement, then looked up for a few seconds. He then gave this reply to the young man: "For you, I do have just one word. Change the word 'achieve' to 'maintain.'"

The young man still looked a little confused. After a few seconds his uncle went on.

"You have virtuous goals and great desires. My advice is to realize that the path to achieving a goal begins now. When you want to 'achieve,' instead live a life to 'maintain.' Assume you have your goals, be confident of them, live them now."

Live now in the present for the future ahead of you.

Sources of African Unease in the United States

It is common to describe the world as being divided between modern and traditional, those participating in finance based economics and those reliant on resources for wealth. Another way to point out the distinction is to list countries as to whether they have McDonald's restaurants or not. Despite these differences, it is apparent in a general way that the trend in the world is the movement of people from rural to urban living and a migration from traditional to modern ways of living. While this movement seems inevitable when viewed on a larger scale, there are a number of stresses that people feel who make this transition. Immigrants from Cameroon form one group who experience the unease of living in a Western society after first growing in their own country.

Cameroonians have a generally high regard for the United States, what it stands for and particularly its wealth. There is no doubt that life in the US can offer improvements for many Cameroonians; opportunity for advanced education and the chance to find a job in which an advanced skill can be used are two examples. However, it is important that people in Cameroon and other non-Western countries do not let the relative advantages of the United States blind them to uncomfortable realities they will encounter if they come and live in the U.S. These are aspects of living that may not be critical when each is considered independently, but they can combine to produce a real sense of unhappiness and desire for their home country. The purpose of this letter is to describe these aspects in order to help people understand them.

Less sense of community with neighbors: In most Cameroonian villages or neighborhoods people are seen moving through the streets or fields during all daylight hours. Among those moving are people of nearly all ages from young to old. A byproduct of this movement is the frequent interaction with others, either while walking, in the market, at home or traveling to the farm. And because of the temperate to hot weather, many household activities such as food preparation, cooking and washing clothes are performed outside. These sometimes menial tasks are perfect opportunities for neighbors to get together. It is also customary for Cameroonians to be visited by what Americans would consider distant relatives on a regular basis. It is possible to find living situations in the US which are very social; however, it can be difficult to match what is available in the home country. and leaves many Cameroonians feeling a missing sense of community with neighbors.

There is no farm or village in which to find refuge from urban life: In our contemporary United States, relatively few people live outside of urban or suburban areas. In these non-rural places, it is possible to have a garden or even be able to plant on public land. And some people have a second home that is located in a less populated part of the country. But generally, these situations arise from families that have lived in this country for a long time. So, it is hard for an immigrant to acquire properties of this kind. In the case of most Cameroonians, there is some affiliation to a village. This usually includes knowing a family member who still lives in a village. There may even be traditional acts that must be fulfilled in the village. But the most powerful draw of the village may be the local dialect spoken by only a relative few. Some have compared the comfort of speaking the language of the village to that of wearing an old shoe.

No true land ownership: Ownership of real estate in the West is for the most part in name only. It is true that the structure and other assets do belong in whole to the owner, but in most cases the land itself is held by the local jurisdiction. So that even if the structure has been completely paid for, the owner still must pay real estate taxes on the land. And if they are not paid, the owner can lose the right to stay on that land. This differs from the sense of ownership in Cameroon, where the land itself is what is purchased. And there is no obligation of tax such that if not met the right to the land is jeopardized. That it is present in the US can be hard to understand.

No autonomy in how to raise and discipline children: To the credit of the United States and other Western countries, children are protected from illness through vaccinations, from hunger because of food stamps and child seats which keep them from grievous peril while in a car. But there are even laws which compel teachers and other figures of authority to file a report if they suspect or are informed of child abuse or endangerment. Again, this is to the benefit of children. However, most Cameroonians are not familiar with this idea of protecting children from all appearance of harm, since most schools in their country have an administrator called the Discipline Master. And while the expression of corporal punishment may not be looked back on fondly, its place in Cameroon society is still expected not only in school but the home.

Continued presence of people who are uncomfortable with the color of your skin: In virtually all of the United States there is not continual blatant discrimination against persons of color. However, there are innumerable instances of words that are spoken, actions taken or attitudes expressed that occur because of a person’s color. Thankfully, these do not happen as often as they once did. But over the course of time, enough do come up that can make a Cameroonian unhappy about how they are perceived in this country. They can also make non-racial injustices harder to accept and can generate an unease about a place they now call home. To be sure, Cameroonians can find ways to discern differences; there are opportunities for differentiation based on language, religion and politics. However, there are generally none based solely on skin color.

To be sure, there are a great many advantages to life in the United States. But it is not a perfect society and there are particular sources of discomfort for Cameroonians who move to the United States. In general, they reflect somewhat the difference between traditional and contemporary living and for this reason can be used as examples for others who make the same kind of transition.

A Kind of Stupidity

One evening we were stopped, along with lots of other cars and trucks, just before the exit ramp to go from I-90 onto I-55. There was an emergency vehicle up ahead holding up traffic, but we could not see any other activity near it. As the wait passed 10 minutes, horns honked occasionally and some drivers got out of their vehicles to try to see what was going on.

I tuned our radio to a big AM station that provides traffic updates every 10 minutes. When the highways were listed according to their geography, from north to south, it was if an invisible scan had passed over us but could not evince our situation. As my attention waned after perceiving this slight, a mention was made of a temporary closure of south Lake Shore Drive due to the passing of the Vice Presidential motorcade.

It reflects a limitation of the craft of traffic reporting that the impact of a moving shutdown was not conveyed in the report I heard. Perhaps this is due to the nature of the scan. Though it moves, it only records a static set of data regarding the flow of traffic. A sense of motion can only be perceived from multiple scans, so to speak. This lack of perspective prevented any possibility of bringing out a predictive capability from the report.

When the entourage passed, we could not see the vehicles themselves. Instead we saw bright blue lights seemingly strung together, floating by. The sharp, vibrant color was striking and attractive, but fleeting. There were some red lights flashing as well, but they did not demand notice like the others.

At that, the VP had passed. As we slowly moved ahead, I heard a report on NPR still referring to blocked traffic on LSD. It seems ultimately a kind of stupidity that renders a busy highway inoperable for 20 minutes just to let a politician pass. At a moment like this, I think of the term, potentate; a politician who is given extraordinary authority. Without regard for the impact on the lives of thousands, even for a relatively short interval, a singular man passes by.

But at least the politician who passed had been elected and the only place we have to see his face is on the television or computer screen. Since I voted for him, I had a dog in that hunt as well, in a manner of speaking. Besides, at least I could think of him as having stopped for an Italian Beef or slice of deep dish pizza before his motorcade got rolling to the airport.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

This is a 115 page story written by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, concerning a man named Shukhov, a political prisoner in a Siberian camp. The story encompasses a single day in prison life, with only brief moments in which the man remembers events or people outside the scope of his present reality. The cold is a constant presence in his telling, but takes on an inscrutable predictability which proves almost comforting compared to the unplanned cruelties of the camp.

The story begins with Shukhov's recollection of an old "camp wolf" who gave him three nuggets of wisdom in some earlier time. Indicative of the learned practicality he displays throughout the tale, he dismisses one piece of advice. The first, ignored, is an admonishment against being a snitch.

But he observes the other two with fervor, like a way to salvation, and in fact, as the way to exist in a place that attempts to displace the spirit. They are a warning to refrain from licking bowls and pinning hopes on the medical department. Each one can lead a person to lose their self-sustaining pride and succumb to the unrelenting personal violence of the prison camp.

One of his bunk neighbors is a Christian who offers his faith as a source of sustenance, but Shukhov rejects the symbolic religion of his camp mate and instead finds a self-sourced grace in his own actions. He says he believes in God, but not in either heaven or hell. Instead he follows a creed forged in the unending days of unrelenting discomfort of the prison camp; to not be a "jackal."

His existence is constrained physically by violence and psychologically by the wrenching uncaring and uncertain restraints that squeeze the temporal sense from camp dwellers' thinking like a rag twisted until it holds no more moisture. Shukhov instead relies on an "internal wristwatch" that allows him furtive intervals in which he can evaluate his condition and design his strategy for survival.

This is a tale from a Siberian political prison camp that was first published in 1961. In other words, a contemporary reckoning of repression that invokes violence as a means of terror and violations of thought process as a tool to inflict mental imbalance. It reduces men to living like a wolf, removed from a considered morality, left to a life of small decisions whose outcomes risk destruction from their environment or leave them prone to succumb to self destructive actions.

A Struggling Soul

A pastor still under the sway, and struggling against, the critical, discouraging words of his father. Sometimes he is able to overcome them and preach about an enduring promise of salvation that cannot be expunged by any act of a man. At other times he falls prey to the words he heard as a youth and can only repeat those that identify us as sinful and undeserving right from birth.

At times, the struggle is engaged with determination and the words are spoken in a low voice, not in rebellion but in defiance. I will not succumb is the subconscious message; I will make a place for these hopeful words. By speaking them, I proclaim an alternative to the doctrine of shame and sin.

But at others, particularly when the topic is of a supposed undeserved worth, the words flow unabashedly and unmodified. It is as if he has given in to this notion of unworth, and is unable to ascertain the larger effect they have. That their repetition gives a credence to the sorry thought they do not merit and creates a cachet within the minds of those who hear them.

In certain situations the speaking of such stark and demeaning words does not upset or confuse, since they are taken as a paraphrase of scriptural text. But there are others in which words like this are used to justify demeaning statements meant not to humble a person but to humiliate. And those who succumb to the gist of them is not confined to those who might be oppressed; it may be that one who finds themselves in a position to speak words of grace may instead recall the sentiment and accompanying pain and unwittingly repeat them.

From where do these words originate? A remembered past kept in a mind and accessed perhaps during a time of stress or other strong emotional state. Because they come from within they are not necessarily subject to the same restraint or skepticism as are words heard from friends or other casual acquaintances. As a result, words of great emotion and import can emerge and feel like just the right thing to say, even though by a more objective perspective, they are not.

And when such organic words and their accompanying thoughts are unexpunged, they can occupy a place both appropriate and dissonant in our minds. It is a challenge, unfortunately not solely a private one, to avoid falling prey to the echoes of words spoken by a parent or other spiritual leader. Our resolve must then be to heed and to feed - as in a depiction of a soul as two wolves, one good and one evil - only the virtuous one.

Chipotle comes to Palatine

Don't ever expect something new or innovative to come out of or to Palatine. It sits outside the realm of changing at the first wave of societal evolution and gives no truck to easily modifying its communal thinking. Palatine wallows in the intoxicating ether of tradition, conservatism and intolerance.

In the reactive minds of fragile thinkers the deliberate sway of time is a good thing. Raising children and maintaining property values works best within a cocoon of isolation safe from the swipe of radicalism and the tumult of evolving tastes. In Palatine change comes not in unexpected or unmodulated ways; it is managed so as to not upset the unmindful public cart.

Palatine exists in a netherworld between the dark city and the unrestrained expanse of the far northwestern suburbs. If it were placed in an aural landscape, it would occupy the place between beats - the rest. As such, there is some semblance of virtue to be in this place. It provides a sense of potential that can be gained by leaving, while also providing a refuge from an unstable, unexpected world.

One implication of being in this physical and psychological place is the slow adoption of change in the commercial face of Palatine. A concomitant feature is that a great number of businesses do have a place here, but they are typically stores that belong to established chains. It is notable that one chain which was early to Palatine, Whole Foods, is not the most disruptive of its kind.

So it is no surprise that a store such as Chipotle has now come, finally to Palatine. Whatever was once cutting edge or subversive about their restaurant layout or food supply chain has been so thoroughly enmeshed in our collective minds it's presence is about as disturbing as the imposition of a longer left turn arrow at a heavily traveled intersection.

We can sleep easily, knowing that we feel protected not only by the corporate sensibility that restrains the impish desires of the food chain, but by the constraints embodied in the Palatine planning process. Live large in your bounded community; be ecstatic about your new choice in meals and by all means, be thankful for the whole, well planned and considered, burrito.