"Only Villains Try To Change The Whole World..."

"…The rest of us take it one person at a time.”
– Runaways, by Brian K. Vaughan

It’s stupid o’clock and I haven’t slept since God knows when.

Forgive this insignificant blogger’s nonsense.

We’re way past the year 1984, but it seems that George Orwell’s warnings were not heeded enough. Power is the ability to control truth. So whose truth are we living in? Maybe my obsession for alternate universes are fueling my reluctant fascination for conspiracy theories, but I’ve been feeling really…well, suspended is the only word I can think of. Like I'm waiting to be pushed or pulled on a precipice of some kind. Like another nameless audience member waiting for the show to start.

It seems that since the turn of the millennium, all edges of the world has experienced some kind of calamity or affliction. Not a history aficionado, rarely watch the news, and abhor any conversation about politicians or the government, but it just seems like things are getting worse and worse, and most people are just too self-involved with superficial bs to care.

Now, with the much anticipated, rumored, predicted, and theorized paradigm shift in 2012, I can’t help but feel excited, scared, panicky, humbled, and very, very small. Who knows what that paradigm shift is really about, and if it will even really happen. I do hope that at least something in someone shifts soon, for the better.

Predictably, the movies are crawling with Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or alternate worlds.

To name a few:

The Matrix, Artificial Intelligence, Idiocracy, Minority Report, Serenity, Sunshine, Children of Men, Wall-E, I Am Legend, V for Vendetta, Watchmen (opening March 6, 2009), and 2012 (opening July 10, 2009).

People have to watch Watchmen, I’m onto the 6th issue in the comics, and I’m flabbergasted by its intensity.


With all these movies (that I love), with George Orwell’s annoying ability to make his readers think, with the impending 2012 paradigm shift that I still don’t know if I believe in, with the massively disappointing yet somewhat convincing theories I discovered about the truth behind 9/11, and an enormous headache thanks to no sleep and too much thoughts scrambling in my head…

This I’m absolutely convinced of:

It really is a scary world when you can trust Youtube more than you can trust your news channel.

Horror Remakes Get Scarier Every Time....Really

Has the writer's block spread so vastly that the movie franchise can no longer create new and interesting stories? Where has all the innovative writing gone to? Is it lost in the abyss of Cyberspace?

Sorry for the drama, but I just can't help but shake my head at those disappointing remakes. Particularly in horror flicks. The majority of remakes in this genre just does NOT work. The special effects crew get a little way too excited with all the superfluous computer graphics.

Here is a list of all the more popular recent remakes I know of:

1960 13 Ghosts, remade in 2001
1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, remade in 2003
1978 Dawn of the Dead, remade in 2004
1979 The Amityville Horror, remade in 2005
1953 House of Wax, remade in 2005
1980 The Fog, remade in 2005
1973 Wicker Man, remade in 2006
1976 The Omen, remade in 2006
1977 The Hills Have Eyes, remade in 2006
1979 When a Stranger Calls, remade in 2006
1979 Black Christmas, remade in 2006
1986 The Hitcher, remade in 2007
1978 Holloween, remade in 2007
1985 Day of the Dead, remade in 2008

Now that I've posted evidence of how ridiculously fond the entertainment people are of remakes, I'm afraid to say that it actually gets worse. They will be making a remake of Friday the 13th (in theaters Feb 13, 2009), and Nightmare On Elm Street.

Friday the 13th film poster

Don't even get me started on those sequels that just waste another 2 hours of my life. Speaking of, Scream 4 will be released in 2010.

Will the horrific horrors ever end???

I guess with the financial crisis, the producers are having trouble funding actual good writers, and they have to make do with recycling old stories instead. Or, maybe they're corrupt selfish sharks that don't want to pay good writers what they deserve. Good thing the writer's strike is over...or is it? dun dun dun, now that is a real horror.

Come on people, give the audience something new!

I mean, how hard is it to find a new way to stab, torture, maim, murder, run over, devour, cut, slice, tear, hit, pound, slay, impale, kill, kill, kill, those pretty, crazy, emo, stupid people apart, around, all over the ugly house, the weird woods, the cliched school, the creepy small town, with kitchen knives, chainsaws, zombies, masked psychopaths, deformed hillbillies, demon spawns, and freak accidents?

Poverty Sucks (Succinct, no?)

One of the most debilitating problems that civilization has is the never ending presence of poverty. Beyond the glittery sparkle of cosmopolitan lives, lies the constant struggle of the less fortunate to survive through the next 24 hours.

Watching and reading about classics like Oliver Twist and Annie can give us a happy ending impression about children's poverty. Of course we all hope that every poor orphan finds a loving and fortunate family. But that is just not the case in reality.

At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.

There are so many ways to help against poverty, with a single click of a button, you can help someone live through the day.

UNV

What we do - UNV

Global Issues

Global Fund For Children

Poverty Action

Make Poverty History

Look to the Stars

Outreach International

Stand Against Poverty

On a more personal note, poverty in my home country: Nearly 88% of Filipinos live in poverty. EndPovertyNow

The world’s brightest stars are doing their part, why don’t you do yours?

“We are not a passive generation, we’re very proactive. ... We want to see poverty eliminated because we believe it is possible.”
– Shakira.

“I’ve been out on the street, I know what it’s about.”
—Tyler Perry, who has donated enough food to feed 1,000 families for two weeks in Atlanta.

"This is not about charity, it's about justice... The war against terror is bound up in the war against poverty - I didn't say that, Colin Powell said that . . . In these disturbing and distressing times, surely it's cheaper, and smarter, to make friends out of potential enemies than it is to defend yourself against them..Justice is the surest way to get peace."
-- Bono

"Wars against nations are fought to change maps; wars against poverty are fought to map change."
-- Muhammad Ali

"The measure of a society is not in how well they reward their most enfranchised citizens, but in how well they aid their least."
Mike Myers, Actor

"Cancel the debt."
Brendan Fraser, Actor

"This year is one of unprecedented opportunity. It's the year to say enough is enough and campaign for urgent and meaningful change in aid, trade, debt and child poverty."
Anna van der Kamp, Olympic Silver medalist

"We have the power to end poverty in Canada. Do what you can to end the suffering of others and “Make Poverty History” in our Country."
--Kalan Porter, Canadian Idol

That's so people-who-don't-have-a pen-or-paper-and-never-study-but-call-themselves-students!

Okay.

So, I was watching The View on the Velvet Channel (Philippine TV), pitying Elisabeth Hasselbeck and applauding Whoopi Goldberg, and after a somewhat (not really) interesting debate about US presidential candidates and their past, they show a commercial about the derogatory remark: "That's so gay."

I was a little struck dumb because just a few days ago, I was so annoyed at my two guy acquaintances because they were saying stupid "macho" stuff and kept saying "You're so gay" to each other after every little thing. They used this phrase in a sarcastic and teasing way that made me uncomfortable. I'm barely friends with these guys, and I'm sure they don't know or care about what they're saying, but after they talked and joked around about gay men, gay women, suspected gay acquaintances, and disowning gay children, I was really, really, annoyed. I barely said much after that, and just quietly listened to tales of their boyhood and their guy friends whom they saw naked (really, I don't know why they loved talking about that...hm).

Obviously, I'm not sick with homophobia (pun well-meant, and shout out to Ellen D!). I believe in the saying, "live and let live, love and let love," and it actually makes me sad that some of my nearest and dearest are so intent in their "normality," that they are unwilling to tolerate people who are different. I even know people who call themselves friends with a gay person, and ask for free treats, free rides, etc. But are completely disgusted by their gay friend's lifestyle and say so behind their backs.

Having ranted about that, I think it's great that the US media is promoting this kind of commercial, and it's even greater that celebrities are joining to help.

Hilary Duff's "That's So Gay" Commercial.

Wanda Sykes' "That's So Gay" Commercial. (This one is funny.)

The question I have is: Will my home, the Philippines, ever follow in the footsteps of the country they're so in love with?

For some of my friends' sakes, I hope so.

By the way, if you're also non-homophobic, as I hope my readers are, click on this link: Thinkb4youspeak.

(Warning: Rant about boys will ensue in...)

3

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2

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1

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What is their deal? I mean, really. In all my 19 years of life, I swear it's the boys who always start the drama. Most of the time their pride gets in the way of their thinking, the rest of the time they think with their private parts, if they're the kind who ever think at all. I can count the number of genuinely good and wise men I know in one hand, excluding family, because I kinda have to love them by default.

Okay, I get that girls mature faster than boys, but come on!

(End Rant. Dixi.)

A Little Thought About The Power Of Films

"Movie Magic"

Around 128 years ago, the whole world was bewitched by the development of the motion picture camera which created the so-called “moving picture shows.” About 40 years after that, music and sound were synchronized with the action on the screen, and thus the “talking pictures” were born. Nowadays, motion pictures have taken on whole new level of technology. Computer Graphics and animation conquer technological advancement, all while charming us with the unforgettable forgetfulness of Dory in “Finding Nemo,” fascinating us with the arguably heroic tale of “Beowulf,” and making us stare in wide-eyed wonder at the unbelievably believable monster that is “King Kong.” Movies like these, no matter how incredible or not so incredible, will be forever ingrained in our subconscious. And even though movies are mainly for entertainment, we have to admit that one or two have influenced or changed some part of us in one way or another. That is why we have to realize just how important the movies we see are.

(Dory in Andrew Stanton's "Finding Nemo")

(Peter Jackson's "King Kong")

The power of influence is a major component of films and movies, what else would they be for if not to make someone think about something? Whether the audience realizes or allows it or not, films are insidiously planting seeds of whatever propaganda, whether well-meant or simply malicious, into their minds. Documentaries like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Sicko,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” have unabashedly alluded that they’re against the current American government, all while trying to inform or stimulate the audience about their respective topics.

(Michael "Moore's Sicko")

Classics like “The Godfather,” and contemporary favorites like “Pulp Fiction” are certainly good movies, but shamelessly doing crimes like murder and theft are certainly not good morals. Violent movies probably don’t wish to encourage the audience to turn to violence, but it doesn’t help that heroes always get away with murder, and find a good looking love interest while doing so.

(Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction")

However, films are also a massive source of good influence, movies like “The North Country,” which is about women’s rights and power, and “Hotel Rwanda,” which is about an ordinary man doing something extraordinarily good, are stories that can change someone’s perception of personal strength and goodness. These stories help instill emotional growth and awareness to its audiences.

(Niki Caro's "North Country")

Movies enrich our lives with characters we may empathize with, experiences we may never experience in reality, and magical worlds that we can explore with our imagination. They inspire their audience, give them a hundred different vicarious lives, and entertain them with people they admire. Movies are influential moguls, and we should always remember that whatever story we choose to know and learn, are stories that will always be a part of us.

This was my speech for an English exam. Honestly, I think it's a little too cheesy, but apparently it's good enough to get a 98 ; p