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Time Travel Trial #3

Gr-gr-gr-Greetings, EarthWorms!

It’s MC Jack (is that a thing here?) from Dimension R_237, you guys’ favorite Time Traveler, Hour Hand Handler, Time Sand Shoveler, back with another rant.

Now listen guys, I’m in no position to be telling y’all how to lead your lives & whatnot, but just to remind you — and beat the plot of many of those ancient Sci-Fi movies of yours to a pulp of washed up crumpled scripts — whatever stupid decisions you make today, affects my already progressive time. I am here on a mission but you are not making this easier. Can you guys just… be cool… please?

I mean, I’ve been spending a lot of time (haha) in the 21st Century, going to conventions and seminars to educate myself about the ways of your time, visiting your dry, brown parks, drinking your oil spill-infested “black” coffees from your friendly Green Mermaid whose smile lightens up every corner of your cities, and just roaming your flashy city streets in general.

What, a nice lady. Her personality is probably what brings the boys to her yard.

Then, I stood under the Time Square billboard, like a giant ‘Idea’ lightbulb...

EUREKA!

I finally understand why, after World War III was won by Darth Seid and his Rebel Alliance, in 3001, he deemed this era the ‘Golden’ Age of Capitalism in his book, So Retrospect: An Account of my Journey. I remember studying his work back at my Learnatarium; he spoke of these ancient money bartering systems, where people would make more money from other people’s debts.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/371476669235880948/

But, you know… with all this bloodsucking and logo-glaring going on, I still don’t think it sums up quite succinctly what this era was all about. There’s a reason it was working so well, why you were drawn to the bright lights and willingly letting them swipe your credit cards like a knife on your throat. There is a reason the system banks off you successfully but keeps you distracted with tall towers and even brighter advertisements; 

ADHD.

Not happy with the sudden rise in gas prices? Here, look at all these tall buildings we’re using your money to build and keep you out of... 

Yes, if I were fighting in WWIII alongside Darth Seid, I would have reconsidered the name he gave this era. I would suggest he names it the Age of ADHD. Think about it, y’all are some multiple googlechrome tab-running, headline-reading, vowel omitting Earthworms with your life experiences summed up to 140 characters.

“AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FO DAT”

“Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat” is literally a quote that has been a massive component of the pop culture of this generation. People in this time literally do not have time for anything. One of the seminars I’ve attended had a presenter that spoke of a movement that is underway trying reduce world news into catchy, easy-to-read headlines to appeal to the mass discouragement of reading articles.

30-SECOND IDEAS

There is a famous series of books that is gaining popularity where they sum up big ideas into 30-second reads. However, in my time, they taught me that there is no such thing as a bad medium. These 30-second summaries and 140 characters can be a great place to start, but when there is a demand for reducing world news into Bite-Sized headlines… no need for the Extra! Extra! read ALL about it!…

I mean, I ain’t worried… the future I come from, the one I see everyday, is bright and full of intelligent humanitarians, humanists, scholars, gender and sexual equality, and renaissance men and women. I know it happens, so I ain’t worried, I am not asking you to change your ways… I just hope now you are more aware of what you’re doing when you consume giant ideas in less than a minute.

[magmeedo]

Time Travel Trial #2

Test… Test. Yes! I’m back. Wassup earthworms! Jack from Dimension R_237, year 5321 here. 

After my last visit to your time, It seems that my post has caused some glitches in the future. Things are disappearing one second and reappearing the next, as if some of you are uncertain about a few major life decisions. It seems there is a glitch in this simulation… erm… reality I mean.

So, safe to say I travelled back to your time, with my Gravity Trotter this time, to determine what exactly it was that I have done. I am given a deadline by the Universal Ministry of Time… not that deadlines really matter when you have a time machine… ehh? ehh?

But if I were to ever return to my time, having not fixed the glitch I might have caused, it could be curtains for me. But this post has to be quick, I parked the ol’ Gravity Trotter in a handicap spot… it could be a while before they find a tow truck big enough to impound it, but I can’t be too sure.

So before I resorted to writing this post, I ran a small errand this morning; I attempted to ascend to space to check on the foundation of the soon-to-come Space Port, right at the end of the Mars (South Pole) Exit. I was baffled to realize that GravTrot was not going above 10 miles. Something kept pushing us down. What is this layer of Ozone hovering amongst the clouds? when did it even get here? But I see, your people saw through its impracticality and underwent some successful missions to destroy it. They’re just a few holes, but it’s a start… keep it up, Earthworms!

So anyway, I flew through the gaping hole in this wanna-be forcefield and everything seemed to be in check. The earth, moon, and all the other planets seem to be in the perfect orbit to the sun. Even the Planet of Dwarves is in it’s perfect place. *siggghhhh* Like opposite poles on magnets. Beautiful.

Then, I realized, if the problem isn’t originating from something natural or astronomical, it must be originating from somewhere else. From something… more unpredictable. Something that can just… change its course of motion or destination at the snap of a finger, but less so after a presidential speech…

I thought long and hard about this. Finally, I pulled out, from under my bed, my lucky fossilized Donald Trump comb over hair piece and I stroked it three times. The all-baring Philosophical follicles whispered the answers to me. The problem is the people.

What are you so uncertain about, Earthworms? You can be the wonderful change that my children will be reading about in their history books, and the only thing stopping you is your uncertainty. The voice of a generation must have its throat cleared from the mucus of self-doubt. I, for one, feel its about time for you guys to start freeing yourselves. I read in your history books that you guys have come a long way; from freeing the slaves, to ending racism and sexism, to normalizing homosexuality, I can tell you guys have what it takes.

Besides, you guys should really take advantage of the few years of freedom you have left, before history’s infamous Donald Trump unites his band of American-Flag-wearing, Minority-hating, Combover-Rocking Aliens from outer space and there is a 1,000 years of what we at our time call the Second Middle Ages.

So… yea… go out there, make a change… fight for your rights… what little of them you have left. Let’s face it, your system really needs progress a little further… But hey, let it start with you, Mr./Mrs. Voice of a Generation.

Whoa… I just had a wicked thought. Because of my condition, I am technically, already a criminal in hiding. It really depends on when I go back to. But until I do go back, I both am and not an escaped criminal. That’s heavy.

[magmeedo]

Time Machine Trial #1

Testing... testing... yes!! it worked! it actually worked. This computer is set to type in an ancient, wiped out dialect... English. Wow, what strange letters. This must mean that I am no longer in the Year 5231. And, unless the timestamp at the bottom of this post is faulty, as it just might be seeing as this timeline’s fastest processing devices still run on manual-typing keyboards, I have arrived at August 23rd, 2015.

Ahem… Greetings earthlings… HAHA! nah, I’m just kiddin’ ya. Hey everybody, my name is Jack of Dimension R_237. The “R” is not actually the letter in your alphabet, it is a symbol where I come from, it stands for Hope. It might be the only thing that does so too, am I right, guys?! HAHA 53rd century banter, don’t strain your already overworked brains, let me explain.

I am from a time clearly so far ahead of yours that I cannot be held accountable for anything I might say that might offend your puny little brains. I am from a time far enough for you to consider my words as guidance rather than blatant insults. I live in a world built around your fuck-ups… this has been a long-time coming. And you’ll forgive my cynicism, its a very widely-spoken dialect from when I come from. So really, you have a problem with my cynicism, you have a problem with my mother tongue and my culture.

But that seems to be something this century is really good at; discriminating cultures seems to be sort of an Identity. I mean, you’re still not promoting free thinking in your time yet? In year 5231, it is illegal to impose ideas on any being with a heart structure of any of the 18 diagrams in the University of Uranus’ biology text book, the revised edition. Ugh, it’s such a great read. If you open the very same book to page 657, section B, and read under the “How to Start Up Your A.I.” you’ll find some really interesting things there. It says that before you start up your adorable T-3000, you need to configure a set of standards and identifiers that you deem fit for your A.I., as well as a set of duties you require it to do, having been given the model name that its stuck with. After that, you can be sure that your T-3000 will be bombarded with a list of things it has to do, an image it has to uphold, and wiring that it is gonna have more than a hard time trying to untangle the predisposed expectations placed there by you. Enjoy.

I have a T-3000… suckers are adorable…

Anyway, this was just an introduction. I know your brains are probably turning to mush by now. I will try to, how do you say, “dumb. it. down” in my next post.

P.S.

You might think that the time I come from is 3216 years ahead of your time. But, no no, that’s not true. In fact, after the second coming of Jesus in the year 3008 the calendars were all reset. It was all fine and dandy until he tried walking on water again… man, those oil spills can’t be good for anyone. But hey… he’s back home getting the best treatment there possibly could be. And in a few years he’d be back. And we’ll talk about those oil spills when I come back the next time. As far as how much more in the future I am from, I’ll let you do the math... did they teach math in that time?... 

Until next time, Friends!

Johnny from Dimension R_ Sector 237

[magmeedo]

Friday Afternoon Ramblings (1D Plato)

The infinitely famous Plato once compared human emotions and feelings to a herd of wild horses, dangerously dragging your body down the track. And then, being Plato, he concluded that the one way to get a grip on the reins and a grip on reality, is through thinking, getting to know yourself, doing a little bit of what Timon and Pumba, two other well-renowned scholars, coined… PHIL-O-SO-PHY. Well, duh that’s probably what a philosopher’s solution to everything is…  why would Plato not think of philosophy as therapeutic? It got him over some serious shit, like knowing he has the knowledge that his own friend and mentor got murdered for. Sheesh, that’s heavy.

It’s always been plain and clear that when someone appears too sarcastic and cynical towards an idea, it’s usually because he/she is subconsciously seeing some truth in it, and the cynicism is derived from the frustration of not being able to apply these knowledges to his/her own life. Well who has his thumb on the shift button and his index on the ‘8’ key and doesn’t buy any of this shit? … ***THIS GUY***

Who needs philosophy right? Who needs such a clear mind? Not me.

Way to be one-dimensional Plato, I mean what’s wrong with being all over the place? I, for one, have passion for many things. I am a musician at first, but I also find myself taking a particular liking to film, theatre, acting, photography, directing, screenwriting, etc. and look at me, I’m fine. I have no multiple personality disorders and … *psst! yea you do!* … well I may have a multiple personality disorder and identity crisis but I think it makes me more interesting!

While Plato lived to his old age, with most of his hair on his head and had a quiet, but boring, death, I am burning through life, tearing my hair out, and trying to be the best at everything I pick up. And if I spent most of my time sitting around thinking about my feelings and why they are the way they are… I’d probably be… erm... happier?

Hmm… seems like a good deal…

[magmeedo]

Having directed my first ever short film (or any film, really) ever, I thought I would become more well-versed in the art of film and direction. However, and not to be blunt about my philosophical views but, the more you know, the less you know... Darn you, Socrates!!!

One thing is for certain, you never look at things the same after you’ve experienced your very own behind-the-scenes. Every film you see after you direct your own film only seems to challenge what you know about filmmaking and even compete with your work (and often wins).

Whenever I would watch a film with friends, who were a year ahead of me in our film school curriculum, and they would say things like “man, the directing in that movie was balls crazy,” I would never know what exactly they were looking at. Now whether or not you consider people who use terms like “balls cray” credible for judging films, they are still part of the audience when they enter a theatre and they know what they like to see. I, however, would never know what to look for... until I directed Sunflowers.

I mean aside from yelling “action” and “cut,” does he really just sit on his puffy pants in his beret and shouts commands from his chair that says “Director”? I always thought he was a lurker in the shadows... Ain’t that right, Hitchcock? Until of course, I directed Sunflowers.

But hey, I didn’t learn what a director does by working on this short film of mine... I didn’t apply everything I’ve learned thus far to make this film a masterpiece. Sunflowers is in no way my Citizen Kane. I learned all these valuable lessons from my fuck ups in this project.

The director is not the person who holds the camera, he/she is one that directs it. He/she is not the face on screen, but the one that tells it when to cry, speak, roll over, play dead. The director is like the puppet master, pulling strings, preparing to “cut.” He is the one who creates chemistry between the characters and the camera movements. The director is the Nicolas Sparks of the set. (Picture a Nicolas Sparks book cover... with a man and his camera model...)

A dictator... erm.... director** might seem like a difficult person to work with, but he/she is the person who steps forth and tries to realize his/her visions. Some people have dreams, wake up, and forget about them. Others seek a dream analysts and try to make sense out of them. Others have dreams and try to make sense of the world by realizing their dreams. Dreams can change the world! But then again, maybe Martin Luther King Jr. should have kept his dream to himself right...? *pause for dramatic effect*... NO, of course not! And neither should a director treat his dream negligently.

Having directed my first ever film, I have a newfound respect, admiration, and appreciation for the silent, unsung heroes on set that we don’t see on the screen. I mean... you’re pretty and stuff, Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio, but you’re only a fraction of a beautiful movement... a brilliantly portrayed character of someone else’s dream... Hey... LeoDiCap should definitely star in something like that... where he’s a character in someone else’s dream... YES it’s genius!

Alright... enough of this mushy post... I’m off to work on an original project. Although it’s in its inception, I have a good feeling about it.

[magmeedo]

POETIC REFLECTION ON ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S ‘VERTIGO’ (1958)

Thou say'st thou feel'st like a surrogate Jekyll

But turned, escorted with less acquaintance

A face you'd've coined any but fickle

It's surface now a victim of a glance

Beamed by the Hyde you hid,

Which speaks the truth? Which's steps has more poise?

Which is right and wrong? for thee I bid

Liberty from thy falsified obligation to infer a choice.

Thou art the cosmos as well as the infinite universe

Thou art Mona Lisa, smile perforated in the hourglass sands

But only to suit the DaVinci code, your purpose rehearsed

A varying look in the eyes with every shake of a hand

         I've no room to chisel a lonely string on which I suspend

         Thus I continue my adulterous affair with abandonment

[magmeedo]

Why, I think, The S02 Finale of Breaking Bad, “ABQ,” would have been a great finale for the show altogether.

Beware when entering the world of this show. It is one of actions and consequences. The choices one makes today will always come back to haunt him or her – it could be weeks, months or years before they do, but what’s certain is that they always do. This is also a world of lies and deceit, where human life is only an asset and sometimes a liability. Welcome to the blue-meth-infested version of modern-day Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Since the inception of the several-time Emmy-winning production, Breaking Bad, Walter White, the show’s main character, has been going against seemingly impossible odds in order to realize his fantasy of a secure and “normal” life. The one thing he realizes about his fantasy is that it is not as easily attainable as he might have hoped. During several instances, Walter White has had to suffer the consequences of his actions. However, episode thirteen of the second season shows a particularly peculiar way that Walter ends up paying for his crimes and wrongdoings. This paper will focus mainly on the events that occur in this specific episode.

“ABQ” starts with a foreshadowing teaser scene that depicts a pink teddy bear floating around in a grey pool of water. In fact, everything besides the teddy bear is in black and white. This, along with the fact that the purpose of the scene is unclear to the audience at this moment, and that the events leading up to this occurrence are undisclosed to the watchers, it is clear that this scene is a teaser that the audience hopes will be cleared up in this season’s finale.

The colors splash back onto the scene and the title sequence resonates with that sinister, western-style guitar riff while the elements of the periodic table, almost dancing to the tune, spell “Breaking Bad.”

The screen fades to black and we start to see Jessie Pinkman (Walter’s partner in crime and drug dealing) sitting over and desperately trying to revive his significant other, Jane – whom Walter allowed to choke to death in the previous episode by not turning her body over while she was choking on her vomit. Jessie ultimately gives up, breaking down and crying over Jane’s chest, and this is the beginning of the downward spiral of despair that the rest of this episode will be sucked into.

This is one of the first instances where the audience witnesses Walter’s selfish acts leading to someone else, especially the one closest to him, paying the price. But before the audience has a chance to persecute Walter and brand him as evil and selfish, the next scene rushes in, revealing a whole other side of Walter White as an endearing father holding and gently rocking his infant baby girl in his arms. Instead of being despised for what he has done to another loveable character, Walter remarkably wins over the audience again with the help of this next scene. He even takes it a step further by expressing guilt and regret for his actions and sympathizing with Jessie when the latter calls him crying. “Slow down, take a deep breath… Everything’s gonna be ok, I promise.” The audience is wondering whether or not they can trust Walter again while helplessly admiring the sincerity of his tone. Heisenberg wins again.

Walter then tells Jessie that he knows exactly who can help. He then gets in contact with his lawyer, Saul Goodman, who sends in his best cleaner. This introduces us to a new interesting character, which we later recognize as Mike. Mike walks into Jessie’s duplex and starts collecting any and all evidence that links Jessie to the death of Jane. The audience learns a thing or two about Mike from the way he slaps on his gloves, thoroughly clears out all the drug paraphernalia, cleans the bedside table, and urges a shell-shocked Jessie to tell the police that he knows nothing about what happened to Jane; he likes to leave absolutely no trace. These actions reflect a careful and cautious character that seemingly has something (or someone) to protect.

At approximately 11:00, the watchers get another glimpse into the anti-hero’s home and family life. Walter Jr. has started a fundraiser to help pay for the surgery that Walter is supposed to undergo by the end of the episode. To the audience it is clear that Walter detests the gesture because he does not appreciate handouts – after all, this is the same kind of gesture that made him feel obliged to deal drugs to earn his own extra money in the first place. He then turns the other cheek, however, by putting on a faint smile, hugging his son and thanking him for his efforts to help him. This again helps the audience sympathize with Walter as they are reminded that he is only doing what he is doing so he can be able to provide for this loved ones.

In the next scenes, we see Jane’s father discovering that his daughter has died from an overdose. He is completely distraught and in a hazy state of disbelief. He cannot even hold his head steady enough to look Jessie in the eye – Jessie was standing and reciting the statement Mike had helped him revise word-for-word.

Throughout the episode, there is no well-defined goal that Walter is hoping to achieve just yet. Everyone else around him seems to be scrambling to achieve his or her own goals. Hank Schrader, for instance, is still working with the DEA to help catch the “blue meth” dealer. The irony in this scene derives from Walter White’s photo sitting facing Hank, with a smile that translates into a mischievous one in this scenario, while Hank hangs up other pictures of who he suspects to be the drug lord.

Fast forwarding to 20:32, the audience is just now realizing Walter’s goal; he needs to find his partner and make sure he is not in any kind of trouble. Jessie has been absent for a while and has not been picking up Walter’s calls, so Walter is getting worried. The urgency in this episode derives from the fact that he has a surgery he has to undergo in under a week; he has little time before he would be sedated and not in control. The emotion Walter White is expressing in the car scene seems to be genuine concern more than anything else. The watchers feel more sympathy towards Walter because they too are concerned for Jessie.

Walter finds Jessie and now the audience is treated to a relationship between Walter and Jessie that is established without the need for words. Walter holds Jessie as he cries in Walter’s arms and blames himself for Jane’s death. At this point, Walter has realized the gravity of his actions; he has destroyed Jessie Pinkman and now he feels responsible for his treatment – which is why later on, it is shown that Walter is paying for Jessie’s rehab and therapy.

We get a good example of an action revealing a character in this scene where Jessie is blaming himself for Jane’s death; it reflects a much more sensitive and compassionate side of Jessie than the audience was used to so far. The more the audience sympathizes with Jessie Pinkman and his late girlfriend, the less they sympathize with Walter White who has brought all this upon the two.

While Jane’s father lays out a dress for his deceased daughter on her bed, and Jessie lies heartbroken in his chair at rehab, Walter White is at home taking care of his own little girl and changing her diaper. He still does not fathom the degree of which he has changed so many people’s lives.

Forwarding even more to approximately 30:00, there is a subtext-filled dialogue between Walter’s son and the interviewer questioning him. During this scene, Walter Jr. is expressing his admiration for his father and how he is a great role model and a hero to the family. Walter Jr.’s state is exploited in this scene to create objective drama; we sympathize with him not because we know him as a character, but because he is an innocent, handicapped boy who is expressing admiration to a father who does nothing for him at this point but lie to him.

Meanwhile, a deep internal conflict is reflected technically in this scene; the camera pans closer revealing a regretful Walter who is just now beginning to realize the impact that his decisions have on other people’s lives. The secret he is keeping from his family to protect them, is the thing disconnecting him from them. Walter’s eyes glisten with grief but the audience does not show him too much mercy at this point.

After the surgery, Walter comes out feeling better than ever, (almost too good to be true?) However, while sedated, Walter accidentally revealed to Skylar, his wife, that he has a second phone that he hides from her. So during the scene of the check-up after the surgery, when Skylar asked the doctor if Walter would be fine on his own, the subtext in her statement is what creates the suspense. Hope and fear come into play as the audience is on the edge of their seats hoping that Skylar would not confront him, finding out everything, and fearing that she might leave him.

Ultimately, Fear overcomes hope as Skylar confronts Walter while packing her bags and says that, as a result of what Walter said during sedation, she felt the need to do a little digging. She found out that it was not an affair he was hiding, but something much bigger. Consequently, out of fear, Skylar decides to leave with the children. Walter’s ship, at this point, has not even hit the tip of the iceberg just yet.

A distraught air traffic controller who has just recently underwent a death of a family member decided to go to work today. The stress starts as soon as the man accidentally addresses one of the planes with his daughter’s name, Jane. He is then reminded of his daughter and his mind starts to spiral out of control. Mix-up after mix-up, soon, the audience will realize that this scene was a foreshadowing of something dire.

From the comfort of his own home, Walter White looks up to see a mid-air collision between two planes (the two planes the distraught father accidentally led into each other). The explosion hurled down human body parts and plane fragments onto the inhabitants of Albuquerque. Walter, mouth agape, gawks at the sky as an unidentifiable object falls his way and splashes into his pool. The audience recognizes this object as the pink teddy bear from the very first scene of this episode. The scene turns a grim black and grey and the audience, as well as Walter, has just now realized that, through a chain of events, one man’s selfish decisions led to the death of hundreds.

This is not the typical satisfactory ending, however, the audience does get a sense of closure. Jessie Pinkman is on his way to better health, Skylar and the kids are away from Walt and are safer that way. But hundreds of people have just died in a horrific accident and the rest of the inhabitants are going to be traumatized by the event for a long time. Also, the evil side in all of us cannot help but wish Walter have gotten his way in the end; perhaps the audience prefers the dark Heisenberg than the innocent Walter White.

[magmeedo]

Vertigo (1958) - Does a man with vertigo fall in love?

“If I let you change me, will that do it? If I do what you tell me, will you love me?”

Alfred Hitchcock strikes a chord within himself with one of his latest projects, the film that arguably set the foundations for modern-day art-house films, Vertigo (1958). This wonderful spectacle, vibrantly colored, masterfully shot, and beautifully narrated as it is, can be thought of as a sort of reflection of Alfred Hitchcock, as well as a way for him to explain himself. It is his most honest creation.

BRIEF SUMMARY (Spoiler-Heavy): So, the story of Vertigo revolves around Scottie, who suffers from the titular condition, and how he follows his acquaintance’s wife under the suspicion that she is either unfaithful or is possessed by a spirit from beyond the grave. Ultimately, we find out it was all an intricate plot by Elster to cover up his wife’s murder; he had hired a doppleganger to pretend to be his possessed and delusional wife who ends up “committing suicide.” However, drama ensues when Scottie falls in love with her (or rather, who she pretended to be).

This is essentially a story of a man who falls in love, and becomes obsessed with, a character that does not exist. Ultimately, the man goes to great lengths, trying to chisel the woman he envisions out of the body of another woman, completely disregarding her feelings. And, when he succeeds, he goes on to film Vertigo.

Vertigo might as well have been a documentary about how Alfred Hitchcock prepares his actors/actresses for their roles in his movies. In the first half of the movie, Elster (Tom Helmore) plays the role of the sadistic director who completely submerges his actor (James Stewart as Scottie) and actress (Kim Novak as Judy pretending to me Madeleine) into a world that he had completely fabricated. Elster is completely indifferent towards the emotions and time invested by his two pawns… erm… characters and is only focused on creating his story and ending it the way he intended.

By the second half of the movie, after the dirty deed was already done, Scottie met Judy, a girl that resembled Madeleine too much. Aside from the fact that she was not blonde, she had everything, she was almost perfect. Almost perfect. Scottie feels the urge to change her, make her look more like Madeleine — make her easier to love. You see, Scottie was just a character in Elster’s story; a character that did not receive his closure, leaving him feeling incomplete.

In a haze of obsessive possessiveness and a desperate attempt to fabricate closure for himself, Scottie unknowingly slipped and fell butt-first into the now-vacant chair that read “Director” on the back. He was now playing the role of the tyrannic director, hell-bent on creating a character that does not exist out of a woman that does indeed exist and feels.

The movie itself offers a sort of meta-narrative, especially the fact that both of the men that play the part of director urged their female actress to be blonde, a trope that Alfred Hitchcock himself preferred. By the end of the film, we are left sympathizing with Judy, who never asked for any of this. This guilt reflects a sort of remorse from the man behind the camera, the unspoken omniscient driver of the overall story that is never seen in the movie. The notoriously sadistic director himself, Alfred Hitchcock.

Vertigo was never about a man who was afraid of heights, it was about the irony of a man with this condition, helplessly falling in love with an idea or going on a downward spiral of obsession and addiction.

I hope everybody gets a chance to see this movie at least once. It is truly a masterpiece, it’s like the Monalisa with small stains from DaVinci’s tears.

[magmeedo]

Evolution of the goddamn beauty standards. This is just to reassure y’all that beauty is effin’ subjective. You all beautiful... I love this blog... it changed my life. search the whole thing and more on http://goodnewsguys.tumblr.com/

[magmeedo]

Love it! 

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I’m Mad Maxed out!!!!!!

Fury Road + cinematography

[magmeedo]

There are a couple of ways to Free Willy... one of them is through DANCE!

Check out this image I found on We Heart It - https://bnc.lt/l/59-BkHk10x

[magmeedo]

Green

by Emile Hussell

[magmeedo]

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Witness as Tim Curry, in corsets and fishnets galore, prances and struts his way to cult stardom. Witness as Patricia Quinn’s severed, floating, red lips leave lipstick smeared all over the “pure” souls of a lost generation. Witness as Jim Sharma and Richard O’Brien wave a clenched fist at society and the uptight image of “goodness" it tries so desperately to fabricate and maintain.

Welcome, to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Slap on your pink rubber gloves, this might get messy.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show serves as a sort of propaganda for the dark side. It is a world of haunted mansions, glitter and fishnets, singing and dancing, and sex. It also serves as a warning to society about the upcoming horrors of the soon-to-be media-dominated world. On the surface, the film probably entices enough controversy without the need to explore any deeper themes — thanks to its main character, a Transvestite from the planet Transexual in the galaxy Transylvania.

BRIEF SUMMARY: The film follows Brad and Janet, a conventionally conservative, traditional, all-American couple who catch a flat tire in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. With a knock on the doors of an ominous mansion, they are introduced and submerged into the world of Glam-Rock-looking, partying-all-night Transylvanians. The host, Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), offers them to stay at his home for the night. What choice do they have? and what have their choices gotten them into?

Only a group of "unconventional conventionalists" can make a song and a dance out of humanities sense being lost in space, in time, and in meaning. "It’s just a jump to the left, and a step to the right." Very much like this dance, the “Time Warp,” humanity is all over the place.

Frank-N-Furter represents a sort of mediator between Brad and Janet and their inner fantasies; he is the one that would bring their dreams to life. He is symbolic of the winds of change, the fire of inner sexual desires and passions, and the water that society’s sugarcoated idealistic image of   man and woman would dissolve in.

He invites Brad, “Such a perfect specimen of manhood, so dominant,” into his house and opens his mind up to the wonders of homosexuality. He invites Janet Weiss, a good girl who, in the beginning of the film, would faint at the merest mention of sex, and opens her mind and heart to the freedom sex can provide. He strips them both of their boring, button ups and tightly laced goody two-shoes and, by the end of the film (by the final act, “The Floor Show”) has them dressed like him, singing and dancing.

This all bares a striking resemblance to the role media plays in our lives today; it underplays violence, sex, and aggression and trivializes them for entertainment. It is ultimately up to you, how you use this content; you either let it free your mind and use it to make yourself a more complete person, as was the case in the movie’s character Janet, or you can let the content control you and overwhelm you, as was the case of Brad. Do not try to control everything in your life, embrace that you will never completely have your shit together, and "let’s do the Time Warp again.��

However, Frank-N-Furter was too much exploration for the world to handle. Dr. Scott, a character in the movie says that Frank-N-Furter needs to be dealt with because “society must be protected.” This is a metaphor for how people in power, trying to stay in control of everything, limit one’s exploration or stop it if it has gone too far. Translating to today, this mirrors how governments all over the world think that the media corrupts people, so they censor certain information, consequently, concealing information that might make them more aware of their potential freedoms. Frank-N-Furter was that freedom, that exploration, but his provocative fashion of achieving his passions have gotten out of hand, and, in turn, led to his untimely demise. “We are about to beam the entire house back to the planet.” It is time for society to put on its mask again.

… And guess what, I bet this movie would have never been released where I live.

[magmeedo]

Priorities 

A fear submitted by giveherbovril to deep dark fears.

[magmeedo]

You’ll never get another chance to reblog this!!! Today is the last day!!!

Today is the day Marty McFly goes to the future!

[magmeedo]

Man, I love that there’s a blog out there reporting good news for once. So depressed by the news lately... this cheered me up. 

NO, You Can’t Counsel the Gay Out of People!

In September 2013, New Jersey issued a ban on counseling intended to change the sexual orientation of gay people.

since then, the ban was faced by opposition, claiming that the law went against the US citizen’s constitutional right to freedom of speech.

The US Supreme Court has responded by keeping the ban intact.

Further reading: 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/04/us-usa-court-gays-idUSKBN0NP17L20150504