The Fool's Discontent, Part 7

Read part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

VII.

But if

Your poem’s not long enough, strong enough, wait!

The piper is calling for you

And if your song is not high enough, clear enough, jump!

No bird ever stumbled that flew

And if your story’s not sharp enough, deep enough, look:

I know what you seek is the True!

And if

Your fingers clutch weakly at things that don’t seem

To bear up the glory or harbor the dream

And your toes become numb in the biting dry air

Of the cold empty hall leading on to nowhere

And love is a rope and your spirit a chair

And if

Your feet are too slow

And your hands are too wet

And your ears are too close

And your dreams are too set

And your head is too hard

And your mind is too soft

If your thoughts are too clean

And your will is too weak

If your eyes are too thin

And your lips cannot speak

And your heart runs so quick when your thoughts start a-spinning

And your thoughts are set dark when the man starts a-grinning

And your raw throat constricts at the thought of not singing

And your brain gives a leap at the thought of not thinking

And if

Your hands start to shake at the thought of control

And your skin starts to crawl at the call of the night

And your nose starts to curl at the taste of defeat

And your eyes start to glass at the thought of respite

And you turn

And you toss

And you cannot catch sleep

And you envy the dawn with her red morning mist

And you envy the sand with her fluid white pearls

And you envy the forest with her whisp’ring laugh

And you envy the sky with her playful light fits

And you envy the sea with her black magic eyes

And her sweet-smelling sense

And her cool salty smiles

And you run down the road while the night is yet black

And you run to the cliffs with the moon at your back

And you run with the wind as the horizon shatters

And you run with abandon as though nothing matters

And you long for the stone-cut dreams that are found

Where the head meets the heart and the sun hits the ground

And you envy the sea with her mad ocean gown

And her foaming white lace

And her shafted-light crown

And you toss

And you turn

And you stare

And you frown

And you just want to sing out in prayer before you drown

I will meet you on the wild black forest hills

At sundown.

Slightly more useful District 9 commentary

Oh yeah, that District 9 thing. I was going to make up for my feeble attempt at reviewing, right? Well anyway, here's what I find most interesting about this film:

1. The documentary-style opening sequence is two things: very well executed (usually when movies take this approach it comes off, at best, as very "fake") and a perfect way to hammer home the political/societal seriousness of the movie to follow. Of course, as previously mentioned this doesn't especially pan out. But in any case, a great zinger opening.


2. The aliens have RIDICULOUS weapons and are superhumanly powerful. Which, regardless of whether the movie is supposed to say something to us Americans or is a strictly an apartheid commentary, makes them silly as slum-dwelling refugees. It just don't jive, you know? Like, we're supposed to believe they're all so downtrodden they trade their body-exploding guns for cat food?


3. There's a lot of F-bombing in District 9. That's not really anything unusual. What is unusual is just how...non-intrusive it is. Unlike the many films which have celebrated the f-word by using it either in a certain context or in an over-the-top manner (e.g. the "F---ing A" catchphrase of The Deer Hunter or - duh - Scarface), the word's prevalence in this film is clearly no more than a reflection of the times. Wikus's frequent use of "f---" whenever he gets into trouble slides by almost unnoticeably because we are so used to hearing it in this context.

"F---" has become so incredibly ubiquitous in everyday conversation that it probably deserves its own post at some point.


4. The action and core story are, when you get down to it, pretty darn conventional. Lots of missed bullets, convenient breaks in the action whenever the protagonists need to talk, a moment rather early on when you KNOW which character is going to do what for whom during the climactic sequence.

But nevertheless, something about the whole production really makes you want to root hard for the success of the protagonists. You just have to refrain from thinking too hard about it.


IN conclusion, District 9 is an interesting and unique movie that works best as a strongly contextualized (i.e. set in Johannesburg) sci-fi/action piece. Unfortunately, certain elements of the film and its story strongly encourage us to seek a greater significance, and by seeking we only uncover flaws that make it impossible to take any of it very seriously.

Movie Review: District 9

This is a good one! It's also pretty bizarre, and not just because there's a dude turning into fish-(super)man.

It's all in the way it starts. "Looky here! I am an out-and-proud in-your-face allegory! When I say 'alien refugee in the ghetto' you see an outer-space fishy man, but you know - oh yes, you KNOW - that what I'm really talking about is HUMAN refugee in the ghetto! Like someone from Sudan, or Iraqi Kurdistan, or Gaza, or even like a Mexican in America!"

Very clear, very upfront. Thus, you gets the impression that the next couple of hours are going to either be 1) an all-out liberal attack on American foreign dealings 2) a surprisingly nuanced commentary on the same subject or 3) An arty exposition of South African apartheid which will probably fly right over your head.

But then suddenly the movie becomes a straight-up sci-fi/action/suspense smashup. And that all plays out in none-too-unpredictable a way. And then we're briefly reminded of the original allegorical premise. And that's it. Whoa.

To be fair, District 9 maintains a consistent anti-xenophobia, pro-human rights stance throughout. But the main plot works entirely apart from all that. The realism of the Johannesburg setting and the characterization of the aliens as refugee-types definitely makes the story more engaging, but we would expect the initial allegory to manifest itself in the plot, and this doesn't happen.

So, the movie's weird. It's some of one thing, some of another, and together these things are very entertaining...but there's little lasting impact. I don't come away feeling any different about the politics of immigration and refugees and exploitation and Blackwater (=MNU?).

Oh. Wait. This thing is South African, through and through. Gah. So I guess all of these American-angled musings are, at best, invented interpretations. Darn. And Mendocino Talon True Style Barley Wine Ale (this is better) has left me in no condition to go back and reapproach this monster from a more proper angle. Well, at least I anticipated it with option 3 above. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow with something unstupid to say.

Wow. I guess District 9 gave this reviewer a whuppin'. Several stars for that.

***

The Fool's Discontent, Part 6

The seventh part is best...

Read Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

VI.

At last you walk on down the stair
Away from lights
Far from the show
To the heart
The heart and soul
Or so it should be
Right?

I too thought so

The library indeed is full
Full of things that were said
And things that were dreamt
And known and learned and taught
So much is here that can be bought…
You shudder at the thought

Who could price these dusty volumes?
The spirit held in long-dormant slumber
Yet alive and banished from all sight
Dying from a world
That tramples down the highways
Of the Great Conversation
With the grinding gold-thirsty desires
Of Now Especially
Or whatever comes next
(And does it matter?)
There is no conversation now!
Have you spoken once today?
Will you ever speak
Is the toll too steep?

And now your liquid thoughts are running
Rolling down your cheeks as though
They might just freeze and crack and shatter
Success success, oh does it matter?

Your smiling guide, unheeding, beams
“Finally see
The library free
From thoughts rank and musty
From words dry and rusty
From almost all the nets and traps
(Just avoid the dusty jackets)

“And after years of service here
Perhaps you will have some
Great, sincere, well-wrought, clear
Song that you might hum
And if your song is strong and proud
And your head is set on straight
And if your poem is well-formed
And your steps are never late
And if your story is a tale
Of length and depth and quick-spun fate
Well then!
You may stand up proud in the place that ours
And the masters’ works call home-
Find some space in the long back row
And proudly add your own”






But…

The Fool's Discontent, Part 5

Seven parts. The seventh part is best.

Read Part 1, 2, 3, 4


V. Meanwhile…

A window open in the westward wing
Allows well-calculated prescriptions to be delivered
To those outside whose time is passed
Or not to come.
Your mother is one.
Her heart is heavy in her breast
Crying out
Do I not know myself best?

The reply is soft, well practiced
Like warm mist to the ears
Black smoke to the mind:
   Good mother, if life were truly your own
   And this generous well were dry to the bone
   And the things that we know were nevermore shown
   Do you really believe you could go it alone?

Now awakened
Now she plumbs the depths of her deepest thought
There is something – something!
Unordered, wild, empty
It could have been…it will not be.

In loneliness of clouded dreams
She has everything she needs
Everything she cannot reach
Everything she cannot say.

She stalls, she prays
His stare is learned
It does not stray
Backed by the power of knowledge in gray
The sacrosanct peer-reviewed cards on display
And under its weight she concedes