Next Up for Tackling

Based on the other shows this guy has on his Top 10 Shows of the Decade list, I really ought to watch The Wire and Mad Men. After all, I'm a huge fan of 4 of the 10 shows he's got listed there (A:tLA, Veronica Mars, Dexter, Buffy), and he's got Avatar: The Last Airbender ranked #2!

Unfortunately, neither The Wire nor Mad Men ever seem to make it to the top of my Netflix queue, and both feel like significant commitments given how many seasons each has.

Or, more to the point, neither is on instant-streaming so it's just easier to binge on other shows...

Veronica Mars Season 1: Review

Buffy/Angel creator Joss Whedon is a huge fan of Veronica Mars, and after bulldozing through the first season, I can see why.

Veronica Mars is the daughter of a former police sheriff, now turned private-eye detective. She has picked up her father's sleuthing skills and puts them to work, Nancy Drew style, at her high school. Her best friend was murdered last year, and the fallout has completely upended her life.

The best friend's murder is the season-long mystery arc, but there are also mini-mysteries that Veronica solves each episode. The format works extremely well. The character work is also fantastic--Veronica and her relationship with her father, local biker gang leader Weevil, and high school rich punk Logan in particular. The dialogue is witty and the show is engaging. Smart writing, good show. Count me in for season two.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I watched this movie from my Netflix queue after seeing it on a not insignificant number of people's "10 Best Movies of 2010" lists. The trailer did not excite me when it came out, but I trusted that since the movie got an over-80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and A.O. Scott was a big fan, I would enjoy it as well.

From A.O. Scott's review: "There is plenty of [crazy fun] in “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” — fast cuts, off-kilter puns, sight gags and sound effects in such profusion that you may want to see it again as soon as its over. But underneath is a disarming sincerity and a remarkable willingness to acknowledge ambivalence, self-doubt, hurt feelings and all the other complications of youth."

As it turns out, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was the first movie I have rated "Bad" since Princess of Thieves, a made-for-TV movie about Robin Hood's daughter starring Keira Knightley that I watched on Youtube. It was worse than M. Night's horrible butchering of The Last Airbender.

In fact, I can't think of another movie in recent memory (although Blade:Trinity comes to mind) that I have genuinely wished to stop watching before it was even half over. The protagonist, Scott Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera, who I usually like but now find extraordinarily annoying), had to fight his new girlfriend's seven evil exes. I wanted to turn the movie after the first two. (Oh god, FIVE MORE of this BS?)

It is unfathomable to me that so many people not only enjoyed this movie, but expressed desire to "see it again as soon as it's over" and even put it on their top 10 movies list. I haven't had this much hatred toward a movie since Blade: Trinity, and that is NOT a flattering comparison.

Kaze no Stigma: Series Review

Netflix recommended this anime to me. Maybe they thought that since I loved Avatar: The Last Airbender, I would enjoy this action anime where there are fire-magic wielding fighters and wind-magic wielding fighters and oh, my, elements!

Well . . . I almost gave up after 4 episodes and decided it wasn't worth my time, but then for some reason I kept coming back to watch it until, lo and behold, I'd finished the whole damn thing.

The two main characters are Kazuma Yagami and Ayano Kannagi. The Kannagi family is a powerful family of fire-magic users. Kazuma used to be a Kannagi, but he got kicked out of the family and banished for sucking at fire magic and losing to Ayano in a fight. But he is now pretty much invincible as a wind magic user, thanks to his making a "contract" with a wind spirit. Or something like that. He's pretty cool, I suppose--cocky, arrogant, powerful, and cute. But all in all kind of flat as a character since he doesn't really grow at all--even his stint as an evil bastard at the end of the season wasn't all that exciting. As one review I read notes, the fact that he is 'The Contractor' and uber powerful makes the action scenes kind of . . . boring (it's the "Steven Seagal Syndrome"). He's so powerful that he can't lose, so it really takes the edge off all action scenes. I guess the scene where he kicks his dad's ass is pretty cool, but . . . meh, overall, just meh.

Ayano is the reason I almost stopped watching. Her character is incredibly, incredibly annoying, although at least she's not the simpering, wimpy crybaby type of weak woman that they usually have in anime. By contrast, she's fiery, hot-tempered, loud, and crazy. (And the annoying anime women trend continues.) Must they pick people with incredibly annoying voices to voice women? Always? Also kind of annoying is Kazuma's little brother, Ren Kannagi. I almost had to stop watching because their voices were so annoying.

But I guess Kazuma and Ayano both had some good moments as characters. By the end Ayano kind of redeemed herself--her divine flame was pretty cool, although I wish they had made her grow more as a character instead of just being the impetuous hot-tempered hothead that screams all the time. I guess in spite of all the show's flaws, it was moderately entertaining or I wouldn't have bothered to finish it.

I mean, there were so many problems with the show, from the nonsensical plot to the lack of compelling characters to the not-that-great (but decent) action scenes to the awful dialogue, but my main problem with it was that the so-called 'love' story between Kazuma and Ayano was just so a) forced and b) UH, HELLO, AREN'T THEY COUSINS!!!!? Why is Ayano's dad trying to set her up with HER COUSIN?!? (//edit: Ok, apparently they are second cousins. But still. They are related!)

Well, I really should not have wasted all that time on this series, but it kind of roped me in with the whole elements thing. And a cute guy never hurts--Kazuma kind of looks like Seto Kaiba from Yugioh, haha. Oh dear, I'm a fangirl. Overall, I'd give this series a 'soso.' Decently entertaining, but nothing deep or meaningful, and very annoying at parts.

Sigh. I'm going back to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now that's some cool element-bending.

Socially Retarded Lemming

I have been following with interest Prof. Chua's essay in the WSJ, entitled "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior."

I found the essay hysterical, satirical, and tongue-in-cheek. And, by golly, it was something I identified strongly with. Oh my god, that's Mom and Dad! Exaggerated many times over of course. But come on, stereotype or not, for me, the kernels of truth were there . . . get any grade less than an A? "Hey fatty—lose some weight."? Mothers spending "long grueling hours personally tutoring, training, interrogating" their kids? That was me and Mom in elementary school. I hear bells ringing.

The essay didn't strike me as offensive at all, but it apparently provoked a mini racial firestorm in the comments section.

"It's grossly stereotypical racial tripe!" It's not my place to defend Chua's article; I took it as a light piece, others took it seriously. What I thought was more interesting were the comments revolted at the parenting "model," or, rather, Chua's stylized version of the model.

A few themes were pervasive:
1) This parenting produces automatons. (See, e.g., "Welcome to the death knell of individualism, because with this kind of parenting gaining ground the world will be filled with mindless robots without the capacity to think for themselves!")
2) "There is usually some kind of social awkwardness." ("[S]ocially re-tarded eggheads!" How can they ever relate to people in a social setting! )
3) This parenting stamps out creativity and innovation and leadership skills and strategic thinking. Also compassion, apparently. ("[S]poiled, aggressive, immature . . . pricks who have little compassion and look down on the average Joe.")
4) The Chinese are neurotic! They have deep anger, resentment, severe eating disorders and drug use are common!

Uh, wow, okay. Way to criticize Chua for stereotyping and then do it yourself.

But as with Chua's stereotype, these stereotypes also have some uncomfortable half-kernels of half-truth. Some kind of social awkwardness? Hahaha. Before yesterday, I hadn't left my apartment in six days. Neurotic? They don't call me the control freak in clinic for nothin'. Automatons? To quote a hilarious Flight of the Conchords song, 0000001, 00001111. No, but seriously, I'm a 'grinder' in addition to being a control freak. I tire easily of arguing and questioning; I prefer to execute. And I've not infrequently questioned whether I have any capacity to think for myself. Like the Lemming (a game I did play as a child, by the way).

So I take their point, even if they didn't take what I thought to be Chua's. Does strict disciplinarianism stamp out creativity? Does pressuring for academic success breed lack of compassion? One commenter noted that Chinese-style parents never say "I love you." Also true here. We also don't do hugs or presents. Does that create bitterness and resentment and inability to connect with human beings?

I don't know. But I find it odd for folks to rag on Chua for ostensibly touting her own crazy parenting style and then say theirs is better. As if there's some magical fool-proof formula for turning out perfect people. Most parents try their best. And most people, I'd say, turn out okay. Maybe that's unduly optimistic of me. Or maybe that's me being an immature prick.

Being Stupid: Wasting Time Being Mad At Stupidity

After I watched the Penn&Teller video about immigration I searched for other Penn&Teller: Bullshit videos, just because they are kind of hilarious. One of them was about creationism. Of course, then I dumped another good 2-3 hours watching youtube videos about creationism and got SO MAD at the sheer stupidity of mankind that I neglected to realize how stupid I was being . . . wasting time being mad at stupid people.

The irony has not been lost on me.

But seriously, how do you argue with stupid?

Well actually, creationists are quite clever. They change the language to use the language of science (intelligent design, creation science). They create an "institute" (Discovery Institute) to confer legitimacy. They frame their arguments in fundamental American concepts--academic freedom, free speech, choice. Give our kids all of the evidence and let them choose what they believe! They are censoring out our arguments! It's a friggin' brilliant strategy, as this satire points out.

Ugh, this is what happens when people with stupid ideas get clever with strategy.

Funny Video About the Border Fence

Speaking of taxpayer money, this is a funny video about how 2 girls scaled the U.S.-Mexico border fence in 18 seconds.

Obviously it is different at night, with Border Patrol around, and all of that. But still kind of funny.

Just imagine if they had a grappling hook!

Cowboy Attitude

Illegals. Aliens. Criminals. Prisoners. Drug addicts. All of them are scum of the earth, right? Let's lock 'em all up and throw away the key, or dump them in the ocean, or send them back to Mexico so that they're someone else's problem!

That cowboy attitude toward law enforcement has always bothered me--not just with respect to immigrants, who are a whole different story in my book, but with respect to criminals as well. It's the Wild West! Let's round 'em up and put 'em in the stockade. Throw the book at 'em! Better yet, make 'em do hard labor (last abolished on the state-level in 1927, according to Wikipedia, but apparently has never been declared unconstitutional under the 8th Amendment, though I have not actually searched on Westlaw)! They done wrong, so they gots to pay. WITH THEIR LIVES if possible. Death penalty (even for juveniles, up until Roper v. Simmons in 2004). Double life sentences for armed robbery. No parole! Et cetera.

Well, now the United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, and is also responsible for roughly 23.4% of the world's prison population. Of course, some might see these figures as a good thing, and argue that this is because we actually have a functional (haha) judicial system. Others might see it as a travesty, noting in particular the overwhelming racial disparities (according to Wikipedia, the breakdown as of 2008 was 60.21% (African American non-Hispanic), 20.29% Hispanic, 13.44% White American (non-Hispanic) , and 6.06% Other).

Whichever way you view these statistics, prisons eat up money. With recidivism rates at 67.5% within three years of being release from jail, supporting all these inmates means less money for schools, transportation, health care, and whatever else is in the state or federal budget. The Cowboys amongst us would, of course, say we should cut costs by denying prisoners medical care and slash their food and make them sleep on the floor and, again, put them to work. (Because, after all, they sold cocaine. Therefore they should die. Or suffer forever. They broke the law so they have no rights, right?) But for the rest of us who subscribe to humanity, even for those who have been found by The System to have wronged society, some standards must be kept.

So it is particularly refreshing when a sensible budget-slashing cost-saving proposal regarding prison reform comes from Newt Gingrich and another Republican. Well, it's not much of a proposal, but at least it's a call for reform and it's a step away from the Three Strikes Law / Tough on Crime party line. So I interpret that as a good thing. Of course, not locking up all the criminals forever is not popular with the Cowboy Americans. But it makes economic sense. So long as we are wary of the privatisation trend . . .

But instead what we see in the comments to the Gingrich editorial are things like:

* "Want to save money? Ever see the movie Cool Hand Luke? Treat prisoners like prisoners and put them out busting rock, digging ditches. Now we send them to the gym, TV lounge, private cells. Hell some of them never had it so good before they went to prison."
* "Road gangs and military barracks buildings, a la Cool Hand Luke, will suffice for most prisoners."
* "Road work, clean highways, shovel snow, pick up garbage, make license plates,farm work etc,etc,etc. In other words lower our taxes."

See? Cowboy.

* "What the G-Newt is trying to tell us, is exactly what the "Great Communicator" actually accomplished when he was Governor of California and later President. He released hundreds of thousands of patients from psychiatric hospitals first in California and later across the country in an effort to 'cut costs.' What has ended up happening, is that we have hundreds of thousands of homeless people who are mentally unstable, walking the streets, mumbling incoherently or throwing verbal insults and sometimes worse at common citizens simply trying to get to work."

Right, exactly. All homeless people should be thrown into prison so that they don't insult common citizens on our way to work. And, uh, if Newt Gingrich was President of the United States, this is the first I've heard of it...

* "There's other more common- sensical solutions to save money in both prisons and the general public. immediately deport all the illegal aliens from our prison systems. Borrow a few dozen USAF large cargo planes to keep it cheap and, without any deportation hearings, fly the illegals to their butts to their home nations and simply drop them off on the runway. If Mexico or Guatemala or El Salvdaor protest, tell them they 'either take their criminals back or we cut off their foreign aid.'"

Sigh. Yes, we should put them on a cargo plane because illegals, unlike human beings, are cargo. Illegals have no rights. We won't give them hearings because we'll know they're illegal if their skin is brown.

I know Internet commenters are usually the crazy ones, but . . . they really do drive me crazy.

XY's Book Corner: Blindsight

Grade: A

Review: Blindsight by Peter Watts packs some serious punch. Normally I prefer lighter reading and I view science fiction as an opportunity for some escapist reading. Watts has written a novel that focuses on a number of issues: what it means to be human, what is language/communication, what is the purpose of emotion, what is artificial intelligence, etc. I could go on and on - this book really stakes out a number of interesting concepts and creates a thought provoking novel that leaves the reader questioning many things that are taken for granted.

Plot: Siri Keeton is a synthesist whose specialty is understanding a system from observation. The analogy would be someone predicting what shots a pool player would make next without an understanding of any of the rules or the physics of the game and merely by observing what has been happening in the pool system. Siri is our narrator but is himself brain-damaged (as are all the human characters in the novel) and does not feel human emotion. Instead, he fakes it through observing how others behave and deducing what he should do next. Narration alternates between events at the point of first contact with an alien vessel and between his past interactions with his few friends.

Siri and his fellow crew members approach an alien vessel and attempt communication with a truly alien species. How do you interpret alien communication? If the alien speaks your language, does it understand its meaning or is it merely deducing appropriate responses without the actual content? What is the meaning of language? How can we ever understand an alien, who may have no concept of human emotions? Watts explores all of these concepts in his books and it is truly a fascinating and thought provoking read. His articulation of first contact with an alien species does not impose any human aspects to the alien, which fundamentally changes the perspective. Is it possible to understand a truly alien species? I don't want to give away any plot spoilers and highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a thought-provoking read.

Inception

I know I normally only do anime reviews here, but I finally saw Inception and I can't stop thinking about it. Whatever the "reality" of what the film is actually supposed to mean, I am really impressed with how persistently I continue to think through the intricacies of the plot and the possible meta-theories behind the movie.

I watched a few parts of the movie again today over dinner, and after thinking about it some more I think I largely agree with this reviewer's interpretation of the film's meaning: it's not just the film's ending that is up for interpretation, but the whole film itself.

Again, though, I think it matters very little whether he's right or I'm right or whatever (and that that, too, is part of the meta-meaning). Any film that can make you ponder this hard about meaning and meta-meaning is an impressive one.

While Inception won't necessarily go down as one of my favorite movies of all time (I tend to fall for the emotional animated types), it certainly is among the most intellectually interesting. Consider me sold on Christopher Nolan.