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[theforeignreviews]

The problem with Craigslist Joe

I was brought to watching Craigslist Joe after an ex male friend made repeated smug, obnoxious and uncalled for statements about how "my problems were so petty" (I had NO problems) and he was was setting off to travel the world like Craigslist Joe, sleeping rough and relying on the kindness of strangers. The fact that he was later on busted as a pathological liar on a dearly paid, all-round professionally organised TOUR is irrelevant to this text, but I did want to see what the experience was about.

It's about a man who, in the style of Super Size Me, decides to spend a month living exclusively of whatever he can get (food, lodging) from Craigslist. The first thing you notice is that Joe, on departure, disengages from all of his possessions. Except of course his last-model smartphone and his Mac. Apparently the modern man CAN leech and freeload for a whole month, as long as there is wifi signal. The second is that he's bringing with him a cameraman for the whole month, which raises the questions: was he hired and paid, or is he just in for the adventure, under the same conditions? If he got paid, was it Union standards or just a tip? If Joe can't get food, does the camera guy just say "Ok, I'm going to KFC to get some lunch for myself and I'll be back"? If Joe can't find accommodation, does the camera guy go to a motel? Who documents Joe's hardship through the night, then? Shouldn't we be crediting the camera guy for submitting himself to the same experience as well?

Now, the main problem. Can ANYONE imagine Craigslist Jane? We always hear, with excitement and inspiration, how the local white middle-class young man (and his cameraman and exciting artistic project, let's not forget this important detail) can get by (see also: Into the Wild, before his own stubbornness made him die, or OneStep4Ward - cameraman not included), but from minute 7, when another dude decides to help him, it's really hard not to imagine how it would be for a GIRL in the same conditions, with or without camera woman (or for a 50 year old man, or for a Bolivian man anywhere outside Latin America, etc, but let's just focus on women for this purpose).

Given that 95% of people who were shown helping him were also men, or women in couples, one has to wonder. Interesting coincidence, one of the women who brings him (and 2 more guys) in, is a dominatrix, a woman whose bread winning is to be in a power position towards men.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks "young woman wondering alone and asking strangers for lodging and other favours"? Point for you who replied "She's crazy! She might get raped!", and also for you who said "She's asking for trouble" (note: the question is "what comes to mind", not "what is in her right to do?"). The second thing is, "will she be taken seriously?" This is a serious open question. We have examples of endearing young men seeking adventure and finding kindness in "brothers" out there, but how many women do we actually have recollection of, doing the same? Again, what is the first thing that comes to mind when we hear of, or imagine, a man doing it, and when we imagine a woman doing it?

Couchsurfing recommends caution. It indicates that women prefer to host and be hosted by other women, for safety. And my point is not saying that every man is a potential rapist. But I have been in Couchsurfing, InterNations, ASMALLWORLD and whatnot, because I wanted to TRAVEL and NETWORK, and I stopped counting the amount of men who wrote to me saying that I “look beautiful and they would love to meet me", "maybe I could show them around and show them a good time", they could "pay me back in massages" and "bring chocolates", and so on. Sometimes, within MINUTES of creating a profile, which is quite scary. (A friend with a duck face profile picture asked me if my photo was too provocative, which, no, it was not). I have never received the same request from a girl, or any message saying she is new in town and just looking to make some friends. And I don't know of many women who browse guy pictures and send them messages wanting to be shown the town by them because they are handsome and saying they could pay in massage and chocolate. And mostly, there is no record of ANY MAN doing this to ANOTHER MAN, so this laces the point.

Women can travel the world, as long as they are extra careful and play it safe. Correct?

So every time we hear any man saying that the Craigslist Joe or any other Rockstar Supertramp experience is possible, hence the world is a great place full of kind people just wanting to help and get back a sense of community, it's valid to ask. Is it EQUALLY possible for women?

*By all means, I’m not questioning the fact that there are nice men out there. And I’m a OneStep4Ward fan.

[theforeignreviews]

How they want the world to see Brazil

Call me boring, call me preachy, call me obnoxious. But really? Even Brazil's World Cup opening ceremony needs a white (and non-Brazilian) male as the lead star? 

But there was a Brazilian female singer, you'll say. Yes, as one of the two hot "latina women" around him. A *blonde* latina woman.

We were initially glad she went against the Brazilian stereotype and opted for a less revealing outfit. But then we realized it was most likely due to a clause in JLo's contract to be the, ehm, most exhuberant looking star, rather than an affirmative action or statement by Claudia Leitte.

So that's it. White male as lead star, surrounded by two sexy latinas, and a parade of bizarre, poor and inaccurate stereotypes choreographed by a Belgian person.

"Don't stretch your minds, people, that's the Brazil you learned to know", should be the theme of this ceremony. So get ready Brazilians, to have foreigners assuming they know the highlights of "your culture".

By the way, a marvel of scientific innovation was also demonstrated on the pitch: a paraplegic whose identity has been kept secret took the tournament's first kick using signals from their brain. The robotic bodysuit was developed by Brazilian doctor Miguel Nicolelis and is the product of 30 years of work.

Sorry you missed that. But JLo and the hot Brazilian chick were stunning, and all those Brazilian plants and trees were cute. FACEPALM.

[theforeignreviews]

Olympus has fallen – why do I have to care*?

In the middle of a week when news about tensions with North Korea are getting stronger, somehow a movie written and filmed months ago premieres in the cinema: the story about a North Korean terrorist attack in the White House.

The film starts quite peacefully, when the President and all the bodyguards are driving from Camp David to a Christmas party. “Have you ever been to a millionaire’s Christmas party, Diaz?” asks the President to his driver. “No sir, never”. Of course he hasn’t, because his name is Dias, so even if he’s lucky enough to be a driver to the President, he is the driver, the poor Hispanic driver who’s never been to a posh Christmas party. No Williams, Jones, Brown or Davis. Diaz. “Oh, because we want to show how culturally diverse our country is! Hispanic background is part of who we are!” Yeah, sure. Essential line for the movie to make sense, as well.

A couple of minutes later, a special non-foreign mention: there is an imminent war showing on the news, a war, for goodness sake, which the hero can’t pay attention to, because his wife, completely oblivious, keeps talking about her boring gossip about someone’s cute new boyfriend or whatever, and nagging him for not paying attention, and for not keeping track of who is who in this most important account of hers. Because this is what women are about, right? Gossip and relationships, and demanding attention from neglecting husbands who prefer spending time with stupid man things such as paying attention to a war flash news on TV than in getting involved in the woman’s life. Right, girls? Important to say, she was not a futile girl whose attitude was just making a point on how shallow people can be, she was a hard-working nurse, cream of the American stock, working hard to save lives every day. So yep, that’s the perfectly regular woman for you, as Hollywood sees it.

Then the real film starts. And for the first whole hour, we watch, helpless, how North Koreans take Washington and the White House. Not one disturbingly propagandistic detail escapes. From lovely innocent families exploding, being smashed by fallen planes or by a bursting Washington Monument, to Asian people dressed as if taken from a Bruce Lee movie detonating bombs on their own bodies, because you know, they don’t value life, or God, or family, or anything good, they are practically soulless monsters. The film cleverly maneuvers to achieve what that other guy in the forties did to another, as he used to say, race. Patriotic flames are set on fire, bloodstreams boil, and how many people don’t leave the cinema feeling like smashing some Korean folks in the street? It’s not exaggerate, read these opinions.

Still, amidst all that horrendous ordeal, the noble President of the United States invites the South Korean Prime-Minister and all his committee to his secret bunker against all security protocol, because you know, he is such a good guy, he sees past national pin flags in blazers, he is a man concerned with the safety of the human being underneath them.

Taking into consideration that (hopefully) some people may find it too outrageous to keep paying attention, the plot suddenly grants us with a small comfort: not only all the Koreans are bad, there is one American traitor among them. Yes, ONE. But well, it is a traitor from inside, so the movie is not completely racist and propagandistic, you see? So we can carry on watching it quite relieved. Besides, it’s payback time, and all that injustice we saw happening at the beginning will finally be adjusted… by one man. In his one-man journey to prove he is righteous and worthy of a trust that has been denied to him. One man who will kill all those Koreans as if it was a videogame, because we already saw that they are soulless baddies, and our cathartic needs are claiming for some release.

Meanwhile in the Pentagon, and that’s another non-foreign highlight, the panic committee receives a call from our hero, who says something like “hey guys, I’ve tortured some goons to obtain key information, which is totally cool because they are the terrorists and we are the good guys, and their main man is… Korean Mr Kang!” (whose mum got poetically killed by an American soldier when he was a child, so all he’s doing has no political statement strength more than some Freudian issue vendetta). And the Pentagon, yes, the highest team of the Country’s intelligence, goes “Oh, wow, but of course! How come has this never occurred to us before! Even if some Korean people were human-bombing the streets during some Korean official visit to the White House! We have been spending all this time trying to figure out who it was, it makes all the sense now! We even had all his files and historic here in our archives and fancy screens, look!”

A Pentagon, by the way, nicely sprinkled with black and white people, but no Asian-American at all, which could have been a good opportunity to show that some Asian-descendant people are good Americans too, and not to be shamed like The Enemy.

We all know the end, America wins, due to the hard work and high values of its people, and we hear a beautiful speech from the President, saying that all American souls who were severed that dark day were good, friendly people. Seriously? No, really, seriously? All of them? There were a great lot of American people killed that day, man. Are you sure there was absolutely no douche among them? No bully, no ruthless co-worker, no poisonous friend, no douche at all? No, they were all good people. God bless America. Tickets available worldwide (except in North Korea, where they don’t have cinemas).

* Now don’t get me wrong. I like America. I have been to America many times, and I have American friends. I’m far from the person who celebrates in public space when something bad happens there. But this is yet another movie oozing, no, flooding American propaganda and national (and why not racial) stereotypes, which is quite shocking to watch, and makes me ask, again, really, what does society win by being exposed to messages like that? And why does every other Country, apart from the US, where this film is being screened, has to cope with this celebration of American culture, virtues, etc.?

[theforeignreviews]

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me What your sacrifice was for (LES MISÉRABLES)

And now for a very appropriate Foreign Review, as the whole movie is a French story, told now by non-French people. (For all those who criticized the movie in reference to the “original” musical, may they be reminded that the real original was a book by French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. So every comment in this review won’t be getting into the matter, but restrain to the movie itself.)

As it is a French story, we don’t see any French person mingling as a foreigner among Americans or Britons, so they are all main characters, either righteous or evil, either rich or poor. They have no choice other than being… well, normal. Despite a profusion of French flags being waved throughout 3 hours, no “Frenchness” is stressed, no “we, the French people, are like this”, or worse, “They, the French people, are like this”. And it almost slips by, with no French “looking” actors pulling French accents, as a good old American/English tale of revolutionary spirit… but it’s not. Remember, this story happened in France. Next time you see a French character in film or TV, remember that.

It is beautiful, though, that this geographically placed story relates to many realities everywhere. And it’s disturbing to see that so many films recently deal with oppression (it was out in the cinemas along with Django). Do people realize that, and feel that? Do we think and do something about it, or only seat back and enjoy the movie, and go back to our jobs the morning after? How relevant it is today to see Monsieur Valjan’s plot? A man who once, so poor due to the economic depression, stole a loaf of bread to feed his little nephew, who can’t find any job, who is denied sweeping-the-floor work because his “papers” are not good, but who is in fact talented and intelligent enough to be a businessman, a factory owner, and if it was not enough, mayor of a little town. Can’t we think of immigrants whom, for whatever reason, left their countries where they are considered qualified for intellectual jobs, and are now only offered minimum-wage service jobs?

But what is really intriguing about the whole movie is the way it ends: ah, sigh of relief, everything ends up well, because Cosette finally marries a rich man and goes to live in a cozy glamorous mansion. Really? Seriously now, really? Nobody is going to do anything about it? “It’s a merry happy ending, let’s comment on the bride’s dress?” The guy was one of the leaders of the student revolution, for goodness sake. And now that everybody is DEAD because the masses DESERTED, he just showers, sprits himself some cologne, and marries the fair lady? The fair lady whom he fell in love with for having SEEN HER IN THE STREET? “Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me / What your sacrifice was for”. Never better said, “don’t ask me, I have nothing to do with this anymore.” And oh, so glad it was the pretty fair blonde girl, not Éponine, whose skin is too dark for classic love happy endings, I can’t imagine the guy’s grandfather approving that sort of marriage. Not in his house.

How would someone tag Samantha Barks’ “ethnicity” by the way? What would be written in the casting breakdown for the role? It’s already positive that she even got cast in a period French story, as “common sense” says “sorry, period France had only pale girls, we are seeking Caucasians only”. “Common sense" also shows the Michelle Rodriguez – type tough guetto girl, if the actress is lucky, or the Colombian/Cuban prostitute, or the Mexican cleaner. Oh, she is British and has a British accent, so she is not “olive-skinned” anymore.

Good for her, and good for the audience, who finally sees a strong hero girl who is a fighter for freedom and justice with the lads, among all the fragile love interests and dedicated mothers (exception made to Helena Bonham-Carter’s typical character, who seems to have demanded her costume to be designed by Tim Burton - again). Good to see a strong female character who is not strong for being “the mother who would do anything for her child”, just for once. Even if she dies and the blonde fragile unopinioned girl marries the guy.

The film ends with all the dead people, EVEN THOSE WHO DESERTED from the fight for freedom and equal rights, waving patriotic flags on a barricade. But they are dead. The living are still starving. Or have just found their way in a comfortable posh existence, sponsored by granddaddy, and everybody is happy. Yay!