#Tianamen Square

[toscanoirriverente]

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

“The Chinese government is seeking to erase memory of the Tiananmen Massacre throughout China and in Hong Kong,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “But 35 years on, the government has been unable to extinguish the flames of remembrance for those risking all to promote respect for democracy and human rights in China.”

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Another red-letter frozen moment for today - 35th Anniversary - May 30th, 1989 - here was "The Goddess of Democracy" - a homemade styrofoam statue created and courageously displayed in Tianamen Square by student demonstrators there... who had no idea what their bravado was about unleash from the Chinese government... martially would be declared in a few days from this, and hundreds or thousands of demonstrators would be massacred.... Hate to say that seeing this today made me wonder if this scene could see a version of itself needing repeating here in the once-great democracy America... if things keep going in the way this runaway train is careening towards Trump 2.0, this is a scene that could unquestionably happen here... and with likely similar results under a Trump "reich".... God I hope enough people see the big picture and vote for Biden this November... Democracy is a very precious thing not to be taken for granted... Trump and his base would eliminate it... Just this one factor ought to be enough to compel any decent American to get out and vote Biden back in - whatever other issues they have with him... the anti-democracy Trump threat is real and must be vanquished ..

[Mary Elaine LeBey]

[joelwindows7]

History lesson. Archive now! Do not lose!!!

Oh man, This is risky. So archive and reupload everywhere, I think...

Note, take this a grain of salt. These are posts btw. But just in case.

25 years ago an unknown Chinese protester stood in front of a tank in defiance of the government. No one knows the identity of the man but he was given the nick name “Tank Man”. This is one of the most iconic photographs of the century.

[culturevulturette]

The aftermath.  

June 4, 1989

[tinyshe]

Remember June 4 Tienanmen Square

[inquisitor-apologist]

Thinking about Rebels and like. Why can’t Star Wars be that good again?

Like Rebels had everything:

Best M/F relationship in SW history

protagonist with a somewhat unique personality and a really well done character arc

Badass lesbian who blew up fascists

Cranky purple gay man that electrocuted fascists with his Bo staff (best weapon)

Droid companion who was actually funny and unique

A pretty consistent story arc

A great finale

And now we’ve got Whitewashing: The Bad Show, Watch The Mandalorian Get Worse, and Tales of Dave Filoni Ruining Canon. I just miss rebels man.

[swedebeast]

35 years ago.

(“Where are you going?”) “I’m going to Tiananmen square.” (“Why?”) “Because It’s my duty.”

Duty is a powerful thing. It is not a sense of obligation towards the government or the state, but to your country, or county, or even your community. These young men and women were patriots, eager to fight with words and their very presence against tyranny.

31 years ago, we remember the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the government still in power that deemed them enemies of the state and tried to make them disappear.

[lulu-cat-princess]

Trevor gets reminded of Tianamen Square when he sees the news about protesting students for Gaza as many of the protesters where students. In both cases the authorities sent their enforcements to crack down on them but tianamen was much worse as the Chinese army opened fire on them. Trevor was probably haunted by seeing news footage of the Chinese army attacking the protesters.

Flower would 100% support the students cos I bet she supported the 1968 Columbia University protests which was about the Vietnam War and segregation.

Isaac would also support the students because you know he fought for freedom and before the revolutionary war there were protest against 🇬🇧 like the Boston tea party.

[cinemaocd]

Jenny's June Movies

Portrait of Jason (1967) Furiosa (2024) Beijing Watermelon (1989) Jubilee (1978) The Player (1989) Oliver Twist (1948) Ugetsu (1953) Mank (2020) Living (2022) The Wonder (2022) Summertime (1955) Don't Look Now (1973) The Elephant Man (1980) Klute (1971) The Man Who Laughs (1928)

Portrait of Jason: (***) Fascinating documentary that is just a talking head interview. Film making doesn't get any simpler than this, but Jason Holliday is such an interesting subject that it doesn't matter. Director Shirley Clarke brings us along for the wild ride of a long conversation with this gay, black hustler and cabaret performer living in the Chelsea Hotel in the 1960s.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (***) My favorite so far in the Mad Max saga, the story is rooted in a terrific performance from a child actor (Ayla Brown) melded digitally with Anna Taylor Joy's portrait of the young Furiosa and her rise to the exalted position of Praetorian in the brutal world of the citadel. Containing Easter eggs from all four of the previous outings as well as a confirmation of the mutability of the Mad Max Universe (narration at the end describes the story as a legend whose telling may change depending on the teller), the biggest joy was the quiet, heartbreaking romance between Furiosa and Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke).

Beijing Watermelon (***): After watching Nobohiko Obayashi's House, earlier this year, I was expecting something far crazier than this relatively quiet portrait of a man consumed by helping a group of Chinese students by feeding them from his market stall, to the detriment of his own family and eventually his own health. A memorable fable about the way in which simple acts of care can transform a community, as well as the ways in which ego can play a part in generosity. The movie only gets as experimental and strange as the director's previous work, toward then end, when filming the ending set in China was impossible due to massacre of student protestors in Tianamen Square. Obayashi turns the story into a meditation of film making with a fourth-wall breaking technique to address the difficulties with the viewer. The movie leaves you feeling an ache of sadness especially when you remember the actual history behind it.

Jubilee (**) Derek Jarman directs this violent, bleak look at dystopian Jubilee Britain, featuring a host of punk icons from Adam Ant to Siouxsie Sioux and the Slits. There is also some nonsense about Queen Elizabeth I time traveling into the film. Honestly the most interesting part of the film for me were the glorious aesthetics, with clothes and make-up by Viivan Westwood, who later disowned her work in the film. Adam Ant is the biggest surprise in the movie, he is always charming and watchable, a stand out among the rest of the cast.

The Player (***) Not my first time through this movie, but another viewing solidified it as the top of the pile for 90s Altman. A wonderfully meta film about film making that is so loaded with jokes about film history and industry insider details that it impossible to catch them all on the first viewing. All of this in a tidy film noir package, led by Tim Robbins who plays a souless film executive being pursued by a disgruntled screenwriter.

Oliver Twist (***1/2) Stands out as the best and most memorable new to me film of the month, with a painful caveat. One of the major milestones in director David Leans estimable career, Oliver Twist is marred by his insistence on keeping the character Fagan as he is depicted in the novel, a hateful Jewish stereotype.. The visual look of this film, with its grimy, slicked cobble streets and rooftops of London nightmare fantasy set, would go on to inspire so many movies, but most notably, Carol Reed's The Third Man which came out the following year. Robert Newton is a standout as a terrifying and nuanced Bill Sykes and John Howard Davies ably carries the film as Oliver. Lean beefed up Oliver's role in the last third of the novel, setting up a chilling and dramatic conclusion to the action.

Ugetsu: (***) Another immediate post war film, that is set is Japan of the past in the time of warlords. A pair of couple navigate the coming of war in different ways, leading to devastating unforeseen consequences. A haunting--quite literally--film about war and the inability to ever fully return from it.

Mank (***) This was my second time through David Fincher's dreamy movie, inspired by real life story of writer Herman Mankiewitz, screenwriter of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, told in a style that closely mimics that classic. While all of it is pretty to look at, and the ensemble cast is up to the task of creating William Randolph Hearst's inner circle, attempts to make real life into too much of a movie, make the whole thing creak at the hinges a bit. Tom Burke stands out as Welles, Amanda Seifreid who I'd previously only seen in Mamma Mia, gives a lovely performance as Marion Davies, Hearsts mistress, while Gary Oldman is transformed through make-up and accent work into Mank. I wish I wasn't so aware of the stage craft, but that too is like the original I suppose and there is enough insider stuff in this movie to make a film nerd like me happy through any number of screenings.

Living (**1/2) a remake of an Akira Kirosawa film, about a dying bureaucrat who does his best to make an impact before he dies, features Bill Nighy in the lead role. Nighy creates a subtle portrait of a man who is practically fossilized in his desk at work, slowly coming to life as he takes on the project of getting a playground built in the post-Blitz London.

The Wonder (**1/2) One can be forgiven for confusing this movie with Lady MacBeth, which also stars Florence Pugh as a young woman in rural Britain, getting involved in a deadly web of intrigue. Like that film, The Wonder features a lot of scenes of Pugh in Victorian dress walking in the windblown landscape, and staring into the camera while she is seated quietly in a room. The setting here is rural Ireland twenty years after the Great Hunger. Pugh plays a nurse who is sent from England to watch a young girl who has supposedly survived months without eating. Hired by the village to either prove or disprove the so called Wonder of the title, the film slowly builds into almost unbearable tension in the final acts. Lovely performance from the whole cast, including, once again, TOM BURKE. (Are you seeing a theme in June Movies????)

Summertime (****): Classic David Lean, classic romance. Is it gay? Well yeah, I think Hepburn's character is a lesbian who has finally met the one dude who does it for her and he fancies her too and it foments a complete crisis of identity. Also it's an ode to women traveling alone and living their best life and having fun and doing walks of shame for the first time and oh I just love seeing this middle aged woman get to be 20 something!. Rosanno Brazzi is so cute and this is the movie that made me fall for him.

Don't Look Now (***): So I watched this and Summertime back to back and wow you could not get two more different views of Venice While Lean's film is more of a straight forward travelogue it's not excessively gritty or excessively pretty. It's balanced and though it is a tourists view it still takes on stuff like throwing garbage in the canal or getting lost. All of those things are present in Don't Look Now but they take on a darker edge. This is a city designed to hypnotize seduce and confuse you and you'd better be careful or lose your life. Features a great twist and absolutely top tier 70s psychological horror with lots of creepy vibes.

The Elephant Man (***): I had not seen this since it was in the theaters and I was so blown away by it. It's every inch a David Lynch film...it's like Eraser head with a big budget in many ways. I seriously can't believe someone watched Eraserhead and said: yeah lets give this guy millions to make our studio film. Even more amazing that the final product is so fucking successful as both a studio film and a distinct piece of Lynchian art. Johnny Gielgud and Wendy HIllier are both in this and both fabulous and Anne Coates is the editor. It's like an ode to British Noir films like Gaslight and The Lodger and especially Oliver Twist--and even a little Pygmalion callback in one scene that HIllier is in. John Hurt plays John Merrick and is heartbreakingly human when those around him can only see a monster. Lynch makes the choice to reveal his face about 45 minutes in and it's so impactful. The makeup is incredible, but also he lets the character exist for a long time so he isn't just the makeup. Anthony Hopkins is amazing playing the Victorian doctor who "rescues" Merrik and ends up exploiting him as well. The real horror of this film is in the realization of his own culpability/responsibility that gets shifted onto the audience.

Klute (***): Part of my Donald Sutherland memorial minifest, this movie really belongs to his female costar. Jane Fonda plays Bree Daniels, a Manhattan sex worker who is being stalked by a former client. There is nothing in The Conversation that isn't done first and frankly better in Klute, using modern technology and paranoia about it to maximum effect. Sutherland plays the titular cop, Klute who has assigned himself to the cause of protecting Daniels. An interesting love story develops between the hardened and wary Daniels and the hardened and wary cop.

The Man Who laughs (***): I got to see this for the first time on the big screen with a new original score performed live, which is the best way to see silent films. Veidt is incredible acting through and over and around this makeup, expressing so much with his eyes. Like The Elephant Man, this is a movie about the way society perceives difference as monstrous. A beautiful love story and a revolutionary social justice vibe tie the room together.

[murderballadeer]

gotta watch a 3.5 hour documentary about the tianamen square occupation for my class on chinese ethnographic film and write a summary & critique my monday night wish me luck

[dragomer]

IIRC The one chinese official / diplomat someone managed to convince to respond said ‘We think he’s still alive’ so they could have just thrown him down a hole where he still is or they just relocated him to a backwater village to avoid making him a martyr.

Or he just had no clue / was lying.

An animate gif illustration assignment for advanced digital. we has to base it off of a hero or villian. I chose the Tankman from Tiananmen square incident.

[askewhammer]

my school is finally doing exchange students now so everyone is like "omg what if we get a student from japan!!!!!" or "im gonna show them around school and be besties with them!!!!" bitch no im gonna tell the chinese exchange students about the tianamen square incident you and me are not the same

[remembertheplunge]

8/3/2017

Well, Miss Bitchly put me in my place down at the Greyhound Station: “Turn off your camera!” She yelled at me. I videoed her on my phone as she pulled a Tiananmen Square and pushed her stroller in front of the already accelerating bus! She was angry because they would not let her on the bus.

Mark and Paul are off to Reno on that bus. Saved them from the day’s cruel atmosphere.

Earlier in the day, Mark and I with the assistance of Miss On Star Florence Nighten Gailed a man collapsed on Scenic Ave. Ambulance, Firetruck and a cute neighbor guy showed up.

I left my wallet on a bench at a gym. I was told by he desk clerk that “an older man” brought it to the desk . The $81 in it paid for the Reno tickets for Mark and Paul.

Good Karot Karma $.

After food, Air Conditioning and some caring attention, the twins began the big thaw off the Dunkirk like streets (we saw the film Dunkirk at the Brenden.)

We dined at Hamburger Habit. Paul got shorts and my blue work out trunks. Mark got new pants.

They hadn’t had a day like that in two years. Modesto was not kind to them, until they met me.

Paul asked “do you see good in us?” Me “Yes”.

I spoke of numinous encounter and it’s ineffableness. (I called my initial meetings with a homeless person an encounter)

We put TJSK bags together (TJSK: Trader Joe Survival Kit: included food, toiletries, socks, etc. place in a Trader Joe bag). Mark attempted to hand one out but the person said no. 

But, a homeless man at the bus station accepted and thanked me twice. Mark handed him the bag.

On first arriving at my house, using two bathrooms, Mark yelled to Paul about me “If he try anything, let me know.”

By the time we later got to Safeway store, the brothers said “we are your body guards”.

Paul read Jarad’s poem out loud. They both read the SF Aids guy’s poem. 

I bought them shark beer which they drank here. The took what they didn’t drink and tossed the empties into neighbor Gretchen’s garden. I loved it. (Jim and Gretchen did not get along!)

The Bus was an hour late. Midnight instead of 11pm.

I waited with them in solidarity.

So glad that I did, because I caught the Miss Bitchley Tianamen Square show!

End of entry

_________________________

The 5 things

8/3/2017

Thursday

1:47am

Mark and Paul are safe and sound on a bus to Reno

Our collective experiences and insights

Randy texted

Wallet fell out of gym bag and was returned

Saving the Scenic man who collapsed at 1414 Scenic Way

Preservation Coffee House session: 1/2 way through, outside , I spotted Paul, of the twins. Started our second meeting. They were still carrying the pillows I gave them the night before.

I got my pillows back!

I have the house to myself

Mark and Paul showered, did laundry, humanized.

Paul's voices lessened in severity

[toastling]

You can reblog a picture of Tianamen Square without including the useless addtion blaming a belief systems instead of the authoritarian government responsible.

It did blame the authoritarian government responsible. It just happens to be communist. You'll notice this is a trend in recent world history.

[jarrythan]

Yall remember tianamen square and how the joke is how literally fucked up it is, a child has now done it and no one is really gonna mention it

does throwing a stone at a tank

make a child a terrorist?

is terrorism about resisting oppression? is terrorism about demanding your birthright to live safely and peacefully in your homeland? is terrorism about hating the killers of your family, your friends and your people?

accusations of terrorism are often weaponized against those fighting for liberation and sovereignty and dignity. the french settlers called the algerians terrorists. the indian government calls the kashmiris terrorists. the pakistani army calls pashtun activists terrorists. the turkish government calls the kurds terrorists. apartheid south africa called nelson mandela a terrorist. americans called the vietcong and the black panthers terrorists. the israelis call the palestinians terrorists. all oppressive regimes are connected. all oppressed people are connected. injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.