#that trusty ole ambition

[shallowseeker]

These details are added to make Sam feel more disrespected and minimized by the angels, to make him more jealous of Dean's lofty "righteous man" title. They are added to make Sam angry and to increase his resentment toward Dean.

(bolded for emphasis)

Zachariah is so focused on Dean in the end of "It's A Terrible Life" that it's easy to think that Sam doesn't mean anything to him and he isn't trying to influence Sam in any way. Sam wanted to drink demon blood and work with Ruby and hunt before this episode and he still wants to do the same things during and after, so it's easy to think that there is nothing here Sam is supposed to "learn" from Zachariah and he's kind of just along for the ride as nothing more than a tool in Zachariah's arsenal to get through to Dean after Dean's breakdown at the end of "On The Head Of A Pin"—to prove to Dean that he wants to be a hunter and it's where he's happiest.

As a result, when we ask ourselves questions like, "Why do they throw in that Dean Smith went to Stanford?" Our answers tend to focus on why Dean would want to have gone to Stanford.

Think about what Zachariah actually wants to happen though. He wants Lucifer to be freed, he wants the brothers relationship to break down (4.22), he wants the apocalypse to happen and for Sam and Dean to become the vessels for Lucifer and Michael.

There is a lesson for Sam in the "It's A Terrible Life"... but the lesson is intentionally very subtle, because what Zachariah wants Sam to take away from this episode is that Sam means nothing to him.

Zachariah wants Sam to feel that to the angels, Sam is nothing more than a loser in a dead-end customer support job in a tiny cubicle with all the other insignificant little worker bees. Meanwhile, Dean is the angels prize. Dean is sitting pretty in an executive-level marketing role on the upper floors. Dean is important to the angels. Dean matters. Dean is special. Sam is loser—he doesn't get an important role. He doesn't get respect. He doesn't get recognition. He doesn't get to meet Zachariah—Castiel's superior—at the end of the episode because he isn't important enough to meet Zachariah personally like Dean is. He only gets to hear it from Dean afterward. He gets to hear that Zachariah gave Dean a (deeply condescending) pep talk about how important Dean is and how special Dean is and how he'll succeed and do everything he's destined to do. Dean gets to hear the things that Sam wants so desperately for someone to tell HIM.

These details are added to make Sam feel more disrespected and minimized by the angels, to make him more jealous of Dean's lofty "righteous man" title. They are added to make Sam angry and to increase his resentment toward Dean.

The Stanford comment is an extra cruel jab. Getting into Stanford was something Sam would have worked very hard for. It was a tangible reward—recognition of his intelligence and talent and effort. It was probably something Sam took a lot of pride in and found extremely validating during a period where Sam always felt like a disappointment to John (1.08). Zachariah simply takes his accomplishment away and gives it to Dean. Sam already thinks people should be paying more attention to him—appreciating the power the demon blood has given to him. He's already said he's stronger and smarter and braver than Dean (4.14, 4.16) and nobody is listening... no one is recognizing that he's the better brother—he's going to be the hero who stops the apocalypse! Giving Sam's schooling to Dean is a way of reinforcing Sam's ego—his belief that Dean is being assigned traits that belong to HIM. It is a tangible reinforcement of his belief that he is better than Dean and Dean is stealing his valor.

[sweetsmellosuccess]

No Man's Land

Dir. Conor Allyn

Conor Allyn’s latest film stars his kid brother, Jake, from a screenplay Jake co-wrote, and works like a high-gloss vanity project for his sibling. The story involves a smoldering cowboy who learns a lot about life after shooting an immigrant kid in the back and hiding out in Mexico with the law closing in on him. There’s something to be said, I suppose, about a family production with ambitions toward countering ethnocentrism on the border, especially in the now-post era of Trumpian cultural bigotry, but, unfortunately, even then, you can’t say very much: At its worst, it plays like wince-inducing Taylor Sheridan fanfic.

Jake plays Jackson Greer, an affable ranch bro with a million dollar arm the Yankees are interested in. Despite the lure of the Big Leagues — “New York City!” purrs his mom (Andie McDowell) in anticipation of her baby’s tryout — all good ol’ son Jacks wants to do is hang with his dad, Bill (Frank Grillo, evidently Texan by way of the South Bronx), and older brother, Lucas (Alex MacNicoll), and do ranchin’ stuff with his trusty pinto, Sundance (easily the most charismatic actor in the piece), at his side.

Alas, as the Greer Ranch is located in the peculiar strip of land between Mexico and Texas immediately north of the Rio Grande — a locale from which the film takes its name — there is a constant flow of illegals attempting to cross over the border through their land, increasingly causing all sorts of problems.

One such expedition is being led by a church-going man named Gustavo (Jorge A. Jimenez), known as “the shepherd” for the way he kindly leads his people to the supposedly greener fields of Estados Unidos. Taking his younger sons with him this go-round, Gustavo’s crew run afoul of Bill and Lucas one night, which leads Jackson to disobey his father’s wishes to stay away from such imbroglios, and get involved in the worst possible way, shooting dead Gustavo’s angelic younger son, Fernando (Alesso Valentini), in the confusing skirmish.

Despite his father’s insistence on taking the blame in front of Ramirez (George Lopez), an investigating Texas Ranger, in order to spare his son, Jackson can’t live with the lie. Remorsefully, he heads back to the killing ground, retrieving Ferndando’s dropped wallet, before running away from Ramirez and heading out into the high desert land of Mexico itself in order to escape capture. A reverse illegal getting a chance, at last, to see how the other half lives.

Despite having lived in the area all his life, Jackson is greener than chives on the open range, drinking fetid water that makes him sick on day one, getting stuck with cacti spines, and stumbling clumsily around northern Mexico like the uber-gringo that he is. He’s also almost ludicrously ignorant — again, despite living in a part of the country that’s literally bi-cultural, the only Spanish he knows is to say thank you (“Gracias for the water!”) — but remains, to a bewildering degree, constantly coddled by the good-hearted gentlefolk he meets along the way.

For drama’s sake, not absolutely everybody is a fan: Jackson also has to contend with both the shaven-haired wildboy, Luis (Andres Delgado) — played with such preening villainy, he’s like a Mexican Jafar — whom he runs afoul of at a local marketplace, and the now-bitter Gustavo, who wants to kill him in revenge, but otherwise, he simply lucks into one beatific situation after another, where his country good looks and effortless white-boy charm instantly besots the locals. In Allyn’s film, Jackson’s privileged ignorance and total lack of cultural understanding somehow continually work to his advantage, evidently because everyone can see past his willful illiteracy and recognize what a good kid he means to be.

Running through the country, evading Ramirez, and Luis, Jackson suffers numerous physical distresses, but somehow, a fugitive wanted for murder who goes on the lamb to avoid jail is treated by everyone, Ramirez included, as a vulnerable, sympathetic figure that everyone needs to help take care of, because he feels real bad he shot a kid in the back, and doesn’t know about much of anything except fastballs, and horse wranglin’.

With its tendency towards cheesy affirmation, ill-fitting casting, and overtly facile screenplay, the film has the distinct vibe of a homeschooled Christian-themed production — Jackson as some JC stand-in, atoning for all our sins — but, oddly, religion doesn’t factor majorly until near the end, when Gustavo returns to his church and forgives everyone their transgressions.

Clearly, the film is attempting to hurl an ironic dagger at the audience, turning the almost comically privileged and politically clueless Jackson into a kind of paradigm for personal growth and the benefits of cultural woke-ism (and, to think, all it takes is for nearly every stranger he meets in Mexico to care about him as if he were their own son!), but it’s so poorly drafted and conceived, it very nearly accomplishes the opposite. As an in-depth study of the ills of xenophobia and intolerance, it leaves much to be desired; but as a real-world examination of the roots of American exceptionalism and arrogant cultural ignorance, it’s perhaps a better testament then it even realizes.

[shhhselah]

The “Pitch Perfect” Samples

Pitch 1- An article on current movies and TV shows that are breaking the common stereotypes surrounding the roles of women, mothers, and wives and its impact on our children

Good Girls & Bad Moms, What is the Feminist Freedom Dialogue These Movies Are Inspiring in Our Next Generation's Mothers?

The Netflix Original, Good Girls and the blockbuster comedy Bad Moms, are a hit with the female demographic? Why? Because in a climate wrought with the stench of chauvinism, women are screaming louder from the rooftops that they deserve more, are capable of more and are demanding more. These two productions are taking the term "housewife," and completely changing the paradigm of docile women who live to cook and clean. Oh no, these women cuss, they commit crime, they have sex on tables with their daughter's friend's father, and they still make sure all the kids are in bed by bedtime if they haven't ordered their husbands to do it already. The coming generation is witnessing consistent images of strong, self-made, highly opinionated women who will not allow men to walk over on them, cheat on them, or look down on them. These women are carrying the flag of a new era, and the children- who are our future- are watching it all in real time and convenient playback.

https://www.avclub.com/good-girls-did-a-bad-bad-thing-in-a-network-appropria-1823350805

https://www.vulture.com/2018/02/good-girls-review.html

Pitch 2- An opinion piece that looks at the rise of Disney Classic Remakes and comments on whether this indicates a fall of originality in Hollywood

“Not Another Disney Movie”

Okay look, y’all, I adore- no, you don’t hear me, adore- Disney movies. I still listen to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” from Mulan, and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” from the Lion King. Honestly, I should have a playlist, because I still watch and listen to all those childhood musicals and songs. However, am I the only one a little perturbed at all the remakes? Is anybody else alarmed at the fact that they’ve decided to not only remaster the old cartoon versions, but actually remake them into live action versions? I’m afraid Hollywood is running out of ideas and it’s time to call this thing out and nip it in the bud. I want something I haven’t watched a thousand times and don’t know all the words too. Something I won’t be bitter about when they take out my favorite songs and lines from the original. Uh uh, Hollywood. Stop it.

 Pitch 3- An article discussing the shift from real-time viewership to DVR/Web-stream catch ups

“Hey Girl, You Seeing This Right Now?”

Remember when DVR was called TVO and nearly none of us had it and we had to catch our favorite shows when they aired or await for the re-runs? I do. It was either see the new episode of That’s So Raven at 9pm when it aired, stay up until 2am to watch the rerun, or wait until Disney put it back in the schedule for the next day or the day after. Don’t even get me started on our parents’ struggle of when TV actually went off for the night. I shudder at the thought. Seriously though, when do most of us make time to sit and watch a TV show when it actually airs? Unless we’re attending a watch party or are watching it solo without friends/family members, it seems that most of us rely on trusty ole’ DVR and stream apps. I wonder what it’s like for Nielsen and other rating reviewers to watch live viewership go down. But I also wonder if the issue is as drastic as I believe. Having just come from college, I can definitely attest to a demographic that relies on phones, laptops, and Twitter for their catch-up efforts. One of these days, I’d like to have my whole family sitting down and ready for the on-air release of Manifest’s next juicy episode. There’s something so exciting about knowing millions of other families are in awe at the same time as you. But there’s also a beauty in endless binging on DVR after falling behind in the season. Hmmm, what do you think?

Pitch 4- In this article, while reviewing and going through movies like Escape Room and The Belko Experiment, I'll also be commenting on the sinister work at play that these movies may be revealing- a black market of Psychology.

"Insidious Escape Rooms and Sinister Experiments"

Imma hurt you, AND yo mama!" Ever heard that before? Yeah, it just does something to you; it breaks street code. It's the sure fire way to get under someone's skin. It's okay to talk about me, but my mama too? All bets are off then. And it is exactly this mind frame that's entered into the cinematic telling of Psychology and its ambitions in understanding the human psyche. It's what's produced movies like Escape Room and The Belko Experiment- movies that are centered around merciless masterminds who abandon the moral codes and bylaws of psychological study to produce unhindered results. Have you all seen the movies Escape Room and The Belko Experiement? Ouch. Well I guess I'll have to rip the band aid off and ruin both of them for you. These two movies, as we reach their end, reveal to us the sinister play behind the whole plot- Psychology. But not just any Psychology- the new kind, the kind that abandons the legal and moral rules this study is founded on in attempts to understand humans in a real, raw way that is not restricted or limited. In both movies, there are masterminds that have created these sick and twisted Hunger Games where players have to kill each other or solve riddles and find clues that will pick them off one by one. Only the "strongest" will survive. And you know, I can’t help but leave these movies disturbed. My father always told me, “If they’re making a movie about it, it’s because it’s already happening.” That falls in tune with the sentiment of “Art imitates Life.” But…..what if the age old argument that Art also does imitate Life is just as true? Then either way, there is something extremely unsettling going on in places that are just up under our noses.

In Escape Room, we witness how at the end, the characters who “lost” are all given credible newspaper stories on their reasons for death, such as a bad hiking accident or overdose and heart attack. The bodies were planted and the newspapers were roped in. We even see plans unfold to trap the main characters in what should be a regular airline flight. So now, these people can get control of our air travel as well. I don’t know about you all, but these kinds of movies aren’t scary for their screen time, but rather their revealing of what’s at work just behind the scenes of our normal lives.

[thesinglesjukebox]

LUKE COMBS - BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART

[3.14]

We will wash the dishes, while you go have a beer...

Alfred Soto: I wonder if Luke Combs's ecumenicism extends to craft beers, and, if so, does he save the hangover experiences for songs about wimmen? Ecumenicism has its limits: that metal riff makes Brantley Gilbert sound like Big Thief. [4]

Stephen Eisermann: With how little information we hear about the girl in the second verse, I'm not sure y'all were close enough for her to break your heart, Luke. This song would be so enjoyable if I couldn't already imagine thousands of dudes singing it aggressively at girls who just aren't interested; and in today's world, that's more scary than this song is fun. [4]

Taylor Alatorre: Luke Combs thinks his singing voice is powerful enough to have us ignore that this brings nothing new to the table lyrically, and frankly it's not a terrible bet. He's confident enough in his natural twang to recite this "lorum ipsum dolor" of country songwriting without a hint of shame or irony, which is a talent all its own. The lack of ambition in the arrangement is palpable, though, and when the shredding guitar solo kicks in it's like a bird that's been momentarily let out of its cage. [5]

Tim de Reuse: There's this argument that country music is unfairly maligned by coastal elites because it's marketed towards largely disenfranchised, poor communities in flyover states grappling with an opioid crisis and a general sense of decay. I think there's a point to be made there, but this tune is trying its hardest to make me unsympathetic. Combs isn't here to say "Circumstances are bad and alcohol is the only thing that makes me feel stable;" He's here to say "Women and sports are really getting me down. I'd rather have a drink with my pals!" This song has a man cave and complains to its friends about the ol' ball and chain. This song practices its southern drawl in the mirror to hide the fact that its parents were both middle managers from upstate New York. This song limps along on a pathetic, overcompressed runt of a snare drum, goose-stepping down a path well-trod by the million other better-produced country acts of the 21st century. This song voted for Ted Cruz. [1]

Ian Mathers: I don't believe this man has ever had a beer in his life. [1]

Katherine St Asaph: I assume everyone else will deal with the trusty ol' beer (has Luke Combs never gotten one that's all foam?) so I'll just go straight to the quibble: Terrible maps aside, jeans should be Duke blue, not Carolina blue. [3]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: The best part of "Beer Never Broke My Heart" is that it is exactly the song you expected when you heard that there was a country song called "Beer Never Broke My Heart." [4]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]