"I Would Rather be Without a State Than Without a Voice" - Citizenfour

      Until recently the most impactful documentary that I had seen was Narco Cultura. This film was an exploration of how the Mexican drug trade was destroying the lives of Mexico's citizens. It was beautifully directed and was photographed like a Terrence Malick film (ok, maybe that's slight hyperbole). I walked away from it with a feeling that my life would not be the same. Yesterday, I experienced the same feeling after viewing Citizenfour.

      To be upfront, I have been a supporter of Edward Snowden for a long time. That being said, I truly tried to go into this film with a balanced perspective. After all, none of us really truly know what his motivations were when he made the leaks that he did. I went into the film with the expressed purpose to find out what his motivations were. 

       The beauty of the film is that unlike most documentaries, instead of telling us what to understand, it shows you. It shows us with remarkable clarity who Ed Snowden is. We see that he is a man just like you and I. A man who truly loves his country, and wants to do what is right. Even as he struggles with knowing what is right we see that he is prepared to take responsibility for his actions whatever they are. At least this is how I interpreted what was presented. His story is told through dialogue between himself and reporters and by a day by day recounting of his story. We are able to see the micro expressions of his face as he watches the coverage of his leaks and the firestorm that erupts around the world. There are beautifully extended shots of Snowden being a regular human being just like you or me. We see him make jokes, laugh, become frustrated. We see him become seemingly paranoid as he covers himself with a blanket in order to input his decryption key. In one funny scene we see him try and help Glenn Greenwald navigate his laptop.

Most sobering of all, we see a real fear come to his face as he and his girlfriend begin to face the consequences of his actions.

      Most of us already know Snowden's story, but despite this the film was made with David Fincher's feverish storytelling style that has the audience at the edge of their seat. Hannah and I went to a boutique theater to view the film and as it was a matinee there were only twenty other people in a theater that fit 300. Even so, there was a standing ovation at the conclusion. 

      I really enjoyed this documentary and it is probably the best that Hannah and I have seen this entire year. The reason I enjoyed it was not because I believe that Snowden was trying to do what he felt was right, but rather because this film presented the facts and allowed the viewers to make their own decision about Snowden and his actions. I sincerely hope that everyone sees this film, not only for the content but for the quality of the filmmaking.
     Whether you agree or disagree with Snowden's actions, every American should be acquainted with the facts of his actions and the reaction by the government. Once you have made your decision about what you believe and what you value, you should live it out by going to your local polling station and voting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, in a way that supports what you have concluded from seeing this film.
https://citizenfourfilm.com/

Calvin and Hobbes Documentary Deserves a Failing Grade

   

     My favorite comic (by an extremely large margin) has always been Calvin and Hobbes created by Bill Waterson. So naturally I was extremely excited when I saw the documentary Dear Mr. Waterson available on Netflix. I really wanted to enjoy this documentary but as much as I tried I kept hoping for excuses to attempt beat level 451 on Candy Crush instead.
     This post will be necessarily short as there is so little to say about this documentary. I had expected a documentary discussing the legacy of Calvin and Hobbes possibly interviewing Mr. Waterson himself. Perhaps discussing his childhood or other possible inspiration. I would have liked to know what he thinks about modern comics, the deaths of the newspaper, and the birth of digital media. At the very least, the title of the film led me to believe that there would be an exchange of letters between the filmmakers and the author. I was almost fully disappointed.
   This documentary is essentially an hour and a half collection of interviews by fans and other comic authors talking about how much they like Calvin and Hobbes and wish they could meet/collaborate with Mr. Waterson. These interviews are interspersed with extremely boring footage of the director of the film Joel Schroeder as he explores libraries and fingers through his personal Calvin and Hobbes collection. They don't even show a picture of Mr. Waterson (Apparently only one has ever been taken.)

The only interesting information given in this film is the discussion as to why there has never been any licensing of the Calvin and Hobbes characters into toys or a television show.
   No doubt the director of this film, when he started the Kickstarter campaign to make the documentary, had hoped to explore some of the same things that I was hoping to see. He must have underestimated the privacy of Mr. Waterson who has been described as the Bigfoot of comic authors. There is only one known photograph of him afterall.

Will You Believe Your Eyes?

   

    My sister Elisha recommended The Imposter to us and Hannah chose it as our documentary for the week. The Imposter is a 2012 film, directed by Bart Layton, who is best known for his National Geographic Television show Locked Up Abroad. This film tells the story of Frederic Bourdin (Twitter, Facebook), who impersonated the kidnapped Nicholas Barclay to his family.  This film is sad on many levels but is a very interesting exploration of epistemology and criminal science.
   In 1994, thirteen year old Nicholas Barclay, was abducted while walking home from playing basketball in San Antonio, Texas. Though the police did a thorough investigation his fate is unknown to this day. Three years later in 1997, Frederic Bourdin was discovered in a small town in Spain and was taken to a home for abandoned children. Bourdin, who was attempting to find a place to stay, answered very few questions. All he said was that he escaped from a sex trafficking ring. When he was pressed for his name and information about his family he insists that he contact them himself. He then called police offices in the United States and asked for information about missing children, trying to find one that he could impersonate. He happened upon Nicholas Barclay's case and determined by looking at a faxed (black and white) missing person flyer that he looks enough like Nicholas to impersonate him.

He later finds out that Nicholas has blond hair and blue eyes and is panicked that he will be caught. He makes up a story that the traffickers beat and tortured him and injected his eyes with chemicals to make them change color. He even goes so far as to convince one of other children in the home to give him the tattoos that Nicholas is reported to have using a needle and a pen.  When his "sister" arrives and officially identifies him despite the discrepancies, he is shocked.  Bourdin convinced several officials including the United States Consulate to Spain and the FBI that he was in fact Nicholas and he was given an American passport and was allowed to travel "home" to San Antonio with his sister. Nicholas's family accepts him as their own despite the evidence to the contrary and the story of Nicholas's return to his family makes national headlines.  As if the story was not interesting enough a private investigator named Charlie Parker (Think: an old version of Shawn Spencer, equally as comic),

notices on a television interview that Bourdin's ears do not match those of Nicholas. He alerts the FBI (believing that Bourdin is in reality a Spanish spy) to the detail that they missed and they use DNA and fingerprints to determine Bourdin's real identity. After he was arrested, Bourdin asserted that the Barclay family had killed their own son. The FBI launched a new investigation which was eventually closed when no new evidence could be found.
   The beauty of this documentary is that it is an exploration of epistemology. Rather than spelling out actual facts the filmmakers use interviews that contradict one another and are often quite hard to believe to tell the story. The audience is then asked to make their own determination on what happened to Nicholas Barclay. Was the Barclay family so duped by their desire to see their son and brother alive that they overlooked glaring evidence that Bourdin was not who he claimed to be, or conversely, did they accept Bourdin into the family as a way to get away with murder?
   This film is very interesting but it has one significant drawback in that it is dramatized by a cast of actors as the interviews are playing out. Personally, I think this detracts from a documentary film in that you cannot study the faces of those who are giving information. It also cheapens the medium to cater to those who prefer entertainment over information and reason. That being said, this was an excellent film and is recommended.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 1984!

    This television commercial, directed by Ridley Scott is widely considered to be the best ever made. It introduces the MacIntosh computer as the first personal computer with a graphical interface. This ad depicts a woman destroying the iconic "Big Brother" from George Orwell's iconic novel 1984, which is a criticism of government intrusions upon personal privacy. The woman in this ad represents Apple's new computer. The implication is that Apple and their computer are cool because it stands against conforming to "the man". Since then Apple has come along way, making some very ingenious products and literally creating whole new styles of life. They have also become a company that assists in the very thing they were attacking in this ad.

     Based upon the recommendation from the This Week in Google podcast (HODOR! #253) I recently viewed the episode of Frontline entitled The United States of Secrets on YouTube. I have included l both episodes at the bottom of the page. While this is not the documentary that Hannah and I chose this week it was very informational and highly recommended. It also informed the documentary that we did choose, which was called Terms and Conditions May Apply. This film was very good and serves as a supplemental to what we have already learned from whistleblower Edward Snowden.
   Terms and Conditions May Apply was written and directed by Cullen Hoback and discusses two major points; First, we often do not know what we are signing when we agree to the Terms of Service put out by major media companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple and AT&T among many others. The second point is that while we might trust that these corporations might not have malicious intent, the government likely also has access to this information.

    Let's consider Google as an example of what this is documentary is trying to say. Google is arguably the most useful of these companies that we come into contact with on a daily basis and it is 99% free of charge. Google Search is free. Google Maps are free. The personal assistant mobile app Google Now is free. So is Google Drive, Gmail, Google Scholar, Google Calendar, Google Translate, Google News, Google Wallet and YouTube. If you use Google Plus you get excellent and yet still free automatic photo editing. You are reading this blog thanks to a free Google service.  This is not even scratching the surface of the the Android ecosystem which is a major component in the growing economies of the third world. In return, we hand over a truly frightening amount of information to Google that they then use to tailor make ads for us. For instance, if you use a smartphone, Google most likely knows where you are 24 hours a day. They know where you live and how much money you make. They know your phone number and who your best friends are and what their phone numbers are. It is estimated that the amount of data we give to Google is worth (to them) somewhere between $500 and $5000 depending on your usage. Most of this is common knowledge because Google has generally been very upfront about gathering and storing information about us.  What many people do not know however is that almost all internet companies are doing the exact same things and are not being nearly as upfront as Google has been.

      For instance, Apple also tracks locations in every iPhone ever made. Facebook knows where you live and quite literally knows everything about your friends. Yahoo Mail also "reads" or electronically scans your email in ways identical to the way Google does so. 

     What is much more frightening (at least to me) is that the government also has access to this information. This documentary was released a month after Edward Snowden made his disclosures about the National Security Agency and therefore did not make any mention of him. The Frontline documentary went into much more detail about Mr. Snowden and the links between internet companies and the NSA. Terms and Conditions May Apply did assert many of the same things that were later proven by Mr. Snowden. Specifically it asserted that the NSA had backdoors into major internet providers like AT&T and Verizon and that they were actually copying information as it passed through their internet hubs. This film also discussed the now infamous National Security Letters that forced companies like Google, Facebook and Yahoo disclose user information without a warrant and without the knowledge of the user.

      Whatever you might think of Google, Facebook and Apple they have now become necessary. If Google were to have a worldwide failure across all its services for even one day we would see a major economic impact. We can literally no longer live without these companies. The National Security Agency wiretapping is another matter. Whatever you might think of this, one thing is clear; we no longer have any sort of privacy. Happy New Year, welcome to 1984. We must now assume that all our digital traffic is being tracked and stored, we must assume that our phone calls are being listened in on. Both Terms and Conditions May Apply and the Frontline United States of Secrets are recommended viewing and I hope we will take these issues under consideration the next time we have an opportunity to vote.

Would Anyone Consider you a Hero?

 

    This week Hannah and I watched the HBO documentary Superheroes on Netflix. On the surface this film was exactly what you might expect; a collection of people who many might consider unbalanced, running around the city streets, in the middle of the night, in costume, on the off chance that they might be able to prevent a crime or help someone in distress. However, I believe there is something deeper that we might be able to learn from this film.

Nyx

    The documentary follows several self proclaimed "superheroes" some of whom have even started groups of costumed crusaders who monitor crime and attempt to help people around the clock. They call themselves Real Life Superheroes and use the acronym RLSH.  Each of these people have a costume, most carry weapons, train quite a bit and some even believe that they have super powers. To protect their hidden identities they make up their own names such as Dark Guardian, Amazonia, Master Legend, Mr. Xtreme, and my personal favorite Apocalypse Meow. We see these heroes training in combat, and patrolling the streets of their cities doing their best to help people. Stereotypically, the documentary also shows the police trying to politely discourage this behavior.

The Statesman

   One thing this documentary did not well show is how well these RLSHs are at helping people and preventing crime. There was some footage showing one of the heroes helping a homeless man who had just had his foot run over by a car. The same group of heroes later witnessed a hit and run by a drunk driver and were able to take his keys away from him for the night. They also called the police, who simply drove on by for some unknown reason. There was also one short anecdote at the beginning about a crime that was prevented but it lacked enough detail to determine if it was a true story.

       With the efficacy of these superheroes in question many people would consider this behavior at least strange and at most dangerous and psychotic. I would like to suggest that these people are simply expressing their individuality and hoping to change the world into a place where the evil are punished and the good are glorified. These RLSHs often actually have a very real and positive impact on the homeless with whom they interact on a daily basis. Many of them raise money for homeless charities or hand out care bags purchased from their own money.

Life

Just like about everyone else, these people want to be seen as a force for good in the world rather than just an onlooker. I would dare to say that many of us do not even try to be an active force for good. We all have heard of the bystander effect, and the story of Kitty Genovese who was murdered in Queens, New York in front of over 30 people who did nothing to stop the crime. Most of us hear that story and say that we would never allow that. Real Life Superheroes hear that story and take the next step designate themselves as the person to take the responsibility that no one else wants.

The Last Gladiators

 

    This week, in honor of the Los Angeles Kings being in the final for the 2014 Stanley Cup, Hannah and I watched a documentary called The Last Gladiators. This film considers the "Enforcer" position in hockey, and features Chris "Knuckles" Nilan, an enforcer for the Montreal Canadiens, the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers between 1980 and 1992.
     Those who are not fans of hockey may not know how brutally violent the game really is. I would go so far as to say it is the most violent of the North American team sports, much more so than football or lacrosse. This violence is aggravated by the speed at which the players move and the fact that they are are surrounded by solid glass walls. Furthermore, the rules against fighting used to be much more lenient than they are today, to the point that fighting (outright gloveless boxing) was a regular part of the game that many fans looked forward to. Even today teams will classify their players into two kinds. First there are the finesse players. These players are experts at skating and hockey maneuvers, and are usually smaller and are very quick on the ice. Their job is to get the puck in the goal and past the three or four players who are trying to stop them. Since there are very few rules against violence in hockey, the opposing team will do their best to intimidate, frighten and hurt these finesse players. They will crash into them at high speeds, slam them into the walls and otherwise throw them off their game. The second classification of players is popularly termed "Enforcers". The job of an enforcer is to protect the finesse players from physical attacks from the opposing team. If the opposing team manages to get to the finesse players the enforcers often will physically beat the offending adversary. As a result hockey players often break arms, noses, ribs, as well as suffer concussions and lose teeth. There have even been several hockey players who have died as a result of injuries on the ice.
    In 2004 and 20005 there was a lockout in the NHL that resulted in several rule changes that decreased the number of fights that occurred during the games. The long term effects on retired players was a major factor in these changes. It had been seen that former professional hockey players had experienced traumatic brain injuries that left them susceptible to depression, suicide and substance abuse among other things.

    The Last Gladiators explores these things through the life of Chris "Knuckles" Nilan from his childhood to his retirement and documents his struggles both on and off the ice.
We see his fights on the ice and his even more difficult fight to stay sober after he retired. One of the most fascinating things we see is interviews with his still estranged family (with particularly emotional testimony from his green beret father) about how they felt betrayed by Nilan's addiction. Today Nilan is a sports radio host in Montreal and has reportedly stayed sober since his third stint in rehab in 2010. He wrote a very interesting book which was published in 2013 called Fighting Back: The Chris Nilan Story, which talks about everything from his hockey career to his struggles with drugs and alcohol to his guns drawn encounter with "Whitey" Bulger, on whom the movie The Departed is based.
    While The Last Gladiators may not be everyone's first choice when choosing a Netflix documentary it improves upon the usual sports documentary by showing a real life struggle with the world's fastest spreading disease: addiction.

Narco Cultura - Who is Dying in the War Against Drugs

        One of the most fascinating documentaries that Hannah and I have watched this year has been Narco Cultura, which explores perception of the illegal drug trade from the point of view of our neighbors to the south as well as hispanic populations in the southern American states. It follows the doings of Edgar Quintero a member of a "Norcocorrido" band and Richi Soto, a crime scene investigator from the Juarez branch of Mexico's DEA.
    This documentary was beautiful, the cinematography especially was significantly better than what I have come to expect from a documentary. Combine that with the fascinating lives of those involved and we have a documentary that should have been nominated for Best Documentary. Take for instance the life of Edgar Quintero, a young hispanic man who lives in Hollywood with his wife and two small children. He is the member of a band called Buknas that specializes in music glorifying the latin american drug trade.

In addition to this he writes drug anthems for various gang leaders graphically boasting about the atrocities that they have committed. In the first scene Quintero is shown discussing with a dealer what caliber gun he carries and asking him what he wants put in his song. He later sings the song for the dealer and receives a significant amount of money (several thousand dollars) in return. He then returns home and tells his wife that the money is savings and she promptly stashes it in drawer. Through the documentary we see him in various music video shoots and concert venues sporting various weaponry as his band sing their drug ballads. To him the drug trade is indirectly his bread and butter. He sees the cartels as Robin Hood and his merry band of thieves that provide for the poor of Mexico as they fight the sheriff and the government. He supports his family and does very well by writing and singing their drug anthems.

     Contrast this with Richi Soto, a combination of a hispanic Serpico and a fatalistic Hank Schrader. He is a Crime Scene Investigator for SEMEFO (Mexico's version of the DEA) in Juarez Mexico. His job is to investigate the many drug related murders that occur in Juarez. To give some perspective on this, in 2010 there were 3111 murders in the city of Juarez, one mile away in El Paso, Texas there were a total of 5 murders that same year. Lest you think that this low number is simply an outlier in 2011 there were only 16.  Juarez is officially the murder capitol of the world by a wide margin. Soto and his coworkers live in a constant state of fear that one, their coworkers are corrupt and are in the pay of the drug cartels, and two that they will be outright killed by the cartels for doing their jobs. These police officers literally have to wear masks when they go out to crime scenes in an attempt to avoid being recognized. As the documentary was being filmed, one of his coworkers was shot and killed outside of his home, making that the fourth killing in Soto's unit. As the film goes on Soto becomes more and more discouraged and the audience learns that only 3% of the murders he investigates ever leads to an arrest and much less than 1% are ever convicted.
     This was an excellent documentary that should be seen by anyone concerned about the effect of narcotics on our society. I cannot recommend this film highly enough.
   

Hot Coffee - What to Do About Frivolous Lawsuits (Graphic Burn Photographs)

      In 1994, a woman named Stella Leibeck famously (or infamously) spilled hot McDonald's coffee on herself in her parked car. She then proceeded to sue the McDonald's corporation and was awarded $2.86 million by the jury. Mrs. Leibeck was then derided internationally and became the "poster child" for frivolous lawsuits and tort reform. Just about everyone knows about this case but many people do not know the details. For instance, Mrs. Leibeck originally asked McDonald's to simply cover her medical costs and loss of income which were approximately $18,000. In response McDonald's offered $800. As the lawsuit went forward many attempts were made by Leibeck's lawyer to settle for between $60,000 and $300,000, all of which were turned down by McDonald's. In addition to this, McDonald's coffee had caused over 700 scaldings all of which had been settled by the corporation. During the Leibeck vs. McDonald's trial, a McDonald's executive testified that the losses to the company caused by these scaldings were not significant enough to warrant any change in company policy. It is also not well known that after the jury awarded $2.7 million the judge reduced that amount to a total of $640,000. McDonald's appealed and then settled for an undisclosed amount under $600,000. For those of you who still feel that this was a huge amount, this is a photo of her injuries.

Despite what many might think the temperature at which McDonald's brewed (and still brews) it's coffee is not unreasonable. The McDonald's training manual states that coffee should be brewed at between 180 and 190 degrees fahrenheit. As this is only 22 degrees off of boiling it can cause significant injury if contact with the skin is made. However, this is actually the temperature at which almost all coffee is made. As I was writing this blog I walked up to the barista at the Starbucks I patronize and asked at what temperature the coffee is held. He said, "It is held at between 180 and 190 degrees, but is brewed at a higher temperature." This, and other similar lawsuits, are the topic of the documentary Hot Coffee. The film goes on to argue that tort reform, monetary caps on damages, and mandatory arbitration are all attempts by powerful corporations and the politicians (and judges) they endorse, to take away the right to civil litigation by the everyman. This is a very powerful film that everyone should see. However, the people who do see it should also do their own research and think critically about what they have learned.
     This documentary talks about several different "Exhibits" as if they were presenting evidence in a courtroom and in a sense they are. They are presenting evidence to the courtroom of your mind, where I hope Reason presides. Naturally, you will have to make decisions about the evidence presented for yourself. I believe that this documentary was really trying to present a balanced case with evidence both for and against tort reform. Unfortunately, much of the evidence presented ended up being flawed when everything was put into the light.

     After discussing Mrs. Leibeck and her case, the documentary went on to talk about Mississippi Supreme Court Judge Oliver Diaz, who was attacked during his election campaign by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for being anti business and anti tort reform.

Despite the attack Diaz won the election but was then indicted on charges of bribery and tax evasion. As portrayed by the film he was acquitted of all charges but not before he was prevented from serving as judge for over two years. This was shown in such a way as to lead the audience to believe that this delay in allowing him to serve was part of a right wing conspiracy to protect corporations from litigation. What was not shown by the film was that while the judge was acquitted of the charges, it was only because his wife plead guilty and was given two years probation. I will allow you to make your own decision on whether or not he allowed his wife to take the fall for these crimes. This also highlights the importance of voting with care and evaluating the sources behind everything you see and hear. Needless to say, this is especially important when considering political attack ads.

      The final portion of the documentary talked about Jamie Leigh Jones and her alleged gang rape by KBR employees while she was serving as a civilian contractor in Iraq. She had signed an employment contract that prevented her from suing her employer and instead called for mandatory arbitration for any disputes. The film followed her attempts to get out of that arbitration as she fought for her day in an actual courtroom. The film stopped filming before she was able to get her day in court, but it did eventually happen. It turned out that there was overwhelming evidence that much of what Ms. Jones had to say was largely made up and she was held liable for much of Halliburton's legal fees.
       Even though the documentary showed poor evidence of the need for tort reform, I do believe it is necessary. In particular there should be much more transparency involved in these disputes. If the public is able to see settlement amounts for instance they will be able to decide for themselves if it was a fair amount. If the legal proceedings are made public, people will be able to see for themselves if a corporation should be held responsible. Despite what many people think there are not that many frivolous lawsuits and those that are frivolous are usually very quickly thrown out. Many of the famous stories that have become viral over the internet are completely made up. Those that aren't generally have extenuating circumstances that many people are not aware of. Juries and especially judges are generally more intelligent than many people will lead you to believe. If we elect the right judges, they will know the proper damages that are due to victims. 

       By far my favorite portion of this documentary was the advice given just before the end. This advice was so fantastic I will post it here as well.
 1. Be a savvy consumer of media - Question whether or not you are getting the full story.
 2. Know your State Laws (Author Edit) - Make your own decision concerning whether caps on damages are appropriate and make sure your views are represented in the state legislature.
 3. Scrutinize Political Ads - Research the agenda of the organization paying for the ad.
 4. Read your Contracts (Author Edit) - Decide for yourself if mandatory arbitration is right for you as an employee and make sure your views are represented in congress.

What Has Happened to our Community - Craigslist Joe (2012)

                                                         

    Hannah and I chose Craigslist Joe as our documentary of the week. It turned out be a very interesting film to say the least. Craigslist Joe is a film about Joe Garner's social experiment to live entirely off of Craigslist for an entire month. The purpose of his experiment was to see if one could still depend upon the kindness of strangers for sustenance as could be done in the early part of the last century. It was an interesting film but lacked any sort of thoughtfulness about what could be learned and extrapolated from his experiences.

    Without giving anything away Joe ended up travelling most of the country in his 31 day journey and met many of the types of people you would expect that he would. He even met the founder of Craigslist.  Needless to say he spent a couple of nights out on the street and some days going hungry. I believe he would have had much more success if he had been a little more cheery and gregarious. In fact, he may have been so but the film portrayed him as a very quiet and awkward person. It is also fair to say that if he may have had a much different experience if he hadn't been a young middle class white male. Without even considering race, he could never have tried this experiment if he were a woman.
     As his thesis Joe says he is on a quest to see if there is still any sense of community in modern America and I feel that he was able to show that there is significant community. It is just different from what people might expect. After seeing this film it seems to me that community is no longer found in our communities but is instead found within groups that we choose to be a part of. It is found in our followers and in those we follow on Twitter. We find it in our selected church or the clubs we are a part of. In the basketball leagues we are a part of and other social groups. This is all well and good and healthy but the problem is that America as a society is losing a sense of responsibility to anyone but ourselves. We no longer feel any need to curb our behavior to what is considered appropriate by any set group. It used to be that if we upset our community (quite literally the people who lived around us) they would no longer do business with us and we could no longer make a living. As such communities were very self correcting. They would deal with the members of the community who broke the rules both socially and economically. These days if you upset your community you just find a new one. This is why there is so much hate online in places like YouTube and Twitter; there is no longer any accountability to one's community.  People can and absolutely do say incredibly inappropriate things in these areas because they know they will not be held accountable. Community no longer has any sense of permanence.
     This is why online communities are flourishing. We are able to get the sense of belonging that most of us crave but at the same time are afforded anonymity so that our actions in our communities (the things we say and do) have no lasting negative consequences for us. Unfortunately, our actions may have far reaching negative consequences on those we interact with online.

     Craigslist Joe highlights this phenomenon. Many people are eager to have fleeting relationships with very little responsibility. People are willing to give a stranger a ride to New Orleans or let them sleep on their floor but only if they meet the person online. Only if the implied relationship comes with no strings attached. While this was an interesting film, it is difficult to learn anything worthwhile from it. This is one you could skip. 

    

Sync or Swim (2008)

This week we watched Sync or Swim. Since this is more my girlfriend Hannah’s area, she is writing our blog post for the week. You can visit her Google Plus page here. Enjoy - JS

I am Hannah, Jay’s girlfriend. Jay and I thought it would be fun if we mixed it up and have me write this week’s blog. For our documentary night I chose Sync or Swim, a film that follows a group of synchronized swimmers as they compete for spots on the 2004 U.S synchronized swimming team. This documentary offers an intimate look at this sport that is often misunderstood. I was particularly interested in this film because I used to compete in synchronized swimming as a young adult. I was on the Walnut Creek Aquanuts, an elite synchronized swimming club and 12-time National Champions and winners of over 200 national titles; 17 Olympians, 8 of whom are gold medalists have been former members of the Aquanuts.

Sync or Swim follows nine athletes and their rigorous training schedule. These girls practice six days a week and have one recovery day.  It’s essentially like having an unpaid full time job. This film also examines the media storm that took place just before the 2004 summer olympics. Tammy Crow, one of the key members of the 2004 US synchronized team, was involved in a fatal car crash in February 2003. After staying up almost all night, she skidded off a mountain road and crashed into a tree. Tammy's two passengers died: her boyfriend, Cody Tatro, and a 12-year-old boy, Brett Slinger.

Tammy was driving too fast for the snowy conditions (and the California Highway Patrol claimed she had alcohol on her breath). She was charged with vehicular manslaughter. She pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 3 months of prison and three years’ probation to be served on October 25th. The judge ordered her to pay $23,000 in restitution to the family of Brett Slinger. Tammy was allowed to postpone her jail time until after the Olympics. The average jail sentence for vehicle manslaughter is 10 years depending on the state and a maximum of 20 years.

As you might imagine, the decision to postpone her jail sentence until she was able to participate in the Olympics was extremely controversial. Many people felt that the judge was far too lenient especially considering that she may have been drinking. Others felt that the judge had made the right decision as  she had experienced her own suffering through the death of her boyfriend. As she had devoted her life to representing the United States in the Olympics, they felt she should be able to do so. It is the opinion of this author that the judge made the right decision and she rightfully was allowed to participate.

All in all this was a very interesting documentary. Check it out for yourself.

    

    

The Beauty of Mundania

    This week I chose Mortified Nation from a Netflix suggestion and I was pleasantly surprised.
    This is possibly one of the most inane documentaries that Hannah and I have watched so far. It details a current fad of everyday people getting up on stage and reading extremely embarrassing (and hilarious)  portions of their diaries and journals from decades before. I posted a video of this from YouTube below the trailer.  This movement has become popular in several cities including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin and several others.
    My favorite thing about this documentary is that it showed a great perspective of the big picture of life. Through the experiences of these teenagers the audience vicariously relives the emotional turmoil that comes with adolescence and we can all see how temporary even seemingly insurmountable problems can be.  I was left wondering what things in my life now seem like a really big deal but will turn out to be completely inconsequential. It also left me with a feeling of appreciation for the now, an appreciation of the beauty of the mundane.
     Those who journal regularly will tell you that this is the joy that is found in keeping a journal.  Many of us, myself included, are simply trying to get through life and on to the next big thing. The next paycheck. The next holiday. The next new purchase. The next orgasm. In the end we end up missing much of the beauty in life. We miss the beauty in the daily alarm clock, the routine breakfast, the traffic on the way to work, the regular lunch, and forced relationships with coworkers.  Without these things our lives would be void and meaningless. As much as we would like to deny it, we are going to be remembered by the mundane and banal things we do, at least by those closest to us. In my own life I need to remember that my life will not finally "start" when I get a better job. It won't begin when I get married or pay off my school loans. My life is now and I need to live it now and appreciate it for what it is now.
     Hannah and I enjoyed this film so much that we immediately went online and got tickets for the next show. This is definitely a film y'all should check out. I must warn you however, that while this documentary may seem like it is perfect to show your teenagers, it is actually extremely explicit. You were warned.



                                             
                     


     

Jesus Camp Revisited

 

      Hannah chose Jesus Camp (2006) for us this week. I first saw this film when it came out. I didn't like it much then, and I like it even less now. The film is made in such a way as to be very hypocritical about the things we teach our children and left me with the question, why is this considered so wrong?
    This film, for those who have not seen it, documents children and families from Missouri, visiting a weekend summer camp in North Dakota. The weekend is for children and is mostly taught by a woman named Becky Fischer, an outspoken, pro-life, conservative Christian. The film showed several things that were controversial including children moved to tears "by the Spirit", speaking in tongues, and praying for the former President George Bush. This film was, and to some extent still is, extremely controversial. People felt that the children shown were being "indoctrinated" and otherwise brainwashed by the pastors and parents involved. One quote at the end of the film claimed that the camp was creating a "child army for the republican party".

    To be fair, many of these claims, though exaggerated, are true. One man's "teaching" is another man's "indoctrination" which then a social worker might claim is "brainwashing". It is true that the things taught were certainly on the edges of what is considered "evangelical Christian" and many prominent evangelical christians feel that  the theology practiced by the people in this film is poor at best.  Ted Haggard, the infamous former evangelical pastor, who eventually admitted having sex with, and buying methamphetamine from, a male prostitute, is featured in the film, though his exploits are not mentioned in the film. He actually had nothing to do with the Jesus Camp or any of those involved in the film so I am not sure why they chose to include him.
    After seeing this film, I was left with one significant question. So what? Why should we be so upset about this? Why is this controversial? Children everywhere are taught things by their parents. In fact, they quite literally cannot avoid learning things from their parents. These children are taught a religious system that actively promotes the idea of a higher power and that we will be responsible to that higher power when we leave this earth. They are taught that prayer has power and that those in power will need prayer to make wise decisions. The children of "hippies" on the other hand are taught equally controversial things. They are taught or otherwise learn a disrespect for government and authority in general. They are taught that certain kinds of drug use is ok, and that there is no way to know that anything is actually morally wrong. They are taught veganism as the only ethical way to eat and that terminating a pregnancy is sometimes a necessity. I could go on about the things that are taught in public schools, but I won't because my point is not to disagree with these teachings but to rather point out that these things are largely lifestyle choices and opinions that are taught. These things are all opinions, and choices about the way people decide to live their lives. Furthermore these opinions and lifestyle are innately political. You cannot live your life as a vegan without making a political statement about how you view society, equally you cannot homeschool your children or be a Christian without making a political statement. All of these actions say things about you and your beliefs and like it or not people will notice and will evaluate you accordingly. Liberals teach their children one way and conservatives teach their children another and both groups are equally shocked and offended about the how and the what.

     This would be a completely different discussion if the children were being harmed. As a society we need to step in 100% of the time that there is abuse involved in these situations. In reality, these children grow up and when they are mature enough they make their own decisions about what they believe. As it turns out these kids have ended up being just fine. Levi O'Brien is now 20 and is still a Christian.

Check out his Facebook page. He also has many other videos available on YouTube. Rachael Elhardt was more difficult to find but you can see her Facebook page here. Tory Binger apparently does not have a Facebook profile but here is a followup blog from when she was 16. So with abuse as the line in the sand, I want to know why Jesus Camp brought on a wave of negative reactions, to the point that they closed the camp while Sons of Perdition goes on without almost any reaction at all. In fact it is mainly these same Christians who do the most to help the Sons. Let's Think Critically.

   

Burn (2012) or The Fate of the Twentieth Century Motor Company

    This week we saw Burn,  a fascinating documentary about the Detroit Fire Department and the almost fantastical obstacles with which they must struggle on a daily basis. This film is an excellent snapshot of the consequences of our current system of American politics, and is something that everyone should see.
     This film brings to the surface one particular issue; What can and  must be done about the city of Detroit and similar cities such as Chicago Il., Honolulu, Hi., and Cincinnati, Oh., that are also on the edge of bankruptcy?  One of my favorite things about this documentary is that the filmmakers follow people on both sides of the issue, allowing the audience to understand the viewpoints of all sides, to sympathize with the struggles of all, and most importantly to make an informed decision for themselves. According to the documentary, in the city of Detroit, with a population of 713,000 there were 30,000 fire calls in the year 2011. That's almost 100 a day. To put this in perspective, all of Los Angeles County,  with a population of almost 10 million, had 7,549 fire calls in 2011. The reason there were so many fires is because of arson. The citizens of Detroit are literally burning down their own city. There were approximately 5100 fires that were intentionally set in the city of Detroit in 2011. That is almost 9 times the national average. To make matters worse the number of firefighters has halved. In 1954 there were 1900 firefighters in the city, in 2010 there were 919, meanwhile fires per capita has risen 300%.
     The firefighters in this film seem to have a sense of defeat before they even get the call. Their trucks don't run, their safety equipment is shoddy at best and every year they are laying off more employees and closing more stations.
 
These closures are correlated with the population decline of the city. In 1950, Detroit had a population of 1.8 million. In 2010, the population is down to 713,000. This exodus is leaving over 50,000 abandoned homes in the city, homes which quickly become fuel for arson and other kinds of crime.

Things have become so bad that the Fire Commissioner, Donald Austin (who is featured in the documentary but afterwards resigned in 2013 due to "changes in City administration") created a very controversial policy that said that abandoned homes that posed no threat to nearby structures would be monitored by the FD but would be otherwise allowed to burn. This policy was put in place to prevent firefighter injury or death battling conflagrations in unwanted structures.

     A thinking person would ask, why nothing is being done to help these departments. On the surface the answer turns out to be very simple. The city of Detroit needs to budget more money for the Fire Department. The answer becomes much more complicated when we see that Detroit and many other American cities for that matter, are dying, both financially and spiritually. The American people are losing a confidence in their own nation.

   It used to be that people took pride in their work and created products that were valuable when compared to those created by competitors, as a result Americans were paid well for their hard work. Americans bought American products. The world strove to equal our economic prowess. Since that time, in which Detroit had its highest population and was thriving economically (That's probably a coincidence right?)  we, the American people, quite literally you and I, have become complacent with what we are and what we have and as a result are no longer leaders in the world. We are no longer satisfied with well paying jobs like plumbing, or roofing and are instead doing anything to get rich quick by any means necessary. As a millennial, I must unfortunately admit that this is most true of my generation.  As a result our work ethic has become almost non-existent, the quality of our products has become terrible and our wages have decreased and our whole economy has declined. We have become the laughing stock of the world and ourselves to the point that we quite literally burn down our own cities.
    Now, that is a very dim picture of the United States, but it is not the whole picture. The truth is that many people have begun to see the problem and are trying to become part of the solution. Specifically the Technology sector, the hated and reviled, Silicon Valley, is still trying to create the best products and are largely succeeding. People are again taking pride in their work and are reaping the massive financial benefits. As a result Silicon Valley is one of the most economically thriving areas of the United States, and it's success is slowly beginning to expand to other areas. Everyone wants to work for those companies but very few people are willing to do the hard work required to get the jobs that are desperate to be filled.
    Only when Americans again have a pride in their own work, in the fruits of their own labor, in their own communities, in America and American products will Detroit and other cities like it  be able to survive.
   

The Ethical Dilemna of Rescue

    Our latest documentary was called The Summit and documents the tragedy that occurred on August 1 & 2, 2008, on the K2 mountain of Pakistan and China. K2 is the second highest mountain on earth and with a 25% death rate, is deadlier than Everest.
    This documentary was very hard to follow. This was partially due to the way they told the story (starting in the middle) and partially due to the fact that to this day, what happened on K2 is largely a mystery. All in all this is a very interesting and saddening documentary. It seemed like it was trying very hard to be Touching the Void (A similar mountaineering documentary. This one is MUST SEE!) though it was not nearly as good. The film explores the mystery behind accidental deaths and some unexplained deaths and attempts to fill in the blanks. It is shot through a combination of actual footage of the event and what I presume were reenactments (?) though which is which is never made entirely clear.
    The film also underlines the debate amongst climbers of whether there is a responsibility to rescue fellow climbers if there is a high risk of personal injury or death. When several Korean climbers were stranded on the mountain due to injury the vast majority of climbers at the next lowest camp refused (with apparently legitimate excuses) to make the climb to rescue them. Of the five that did attempt the rescue, three of whom were unequipped hired sherpas, three died, including both sherpas.

    A previous generation might have suggested that the only "right" thing to do would have been to risk it all to rescue the other climbers, regardless of whether or not they were part of your group or nationality. I believe that many of today's generation, which apparently includes the climbers on the mountain that day, would say that they knew the risks when they made the climb and it would be stupid to attempt an ill-fated rescue. I am not sure what I would do if put in their position, and I never have to know.  If you were put in a similar situation, would you be able to live or die with the consequences?
 

     

Bronies: The Most Random Fandom in the World

     This week Hannah and I were tired of the sad, heavy documentaries and decided to find something a little lighter. We ended up watching Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. All I can say is it was easily the most unusual documentary that we have seen and also the most entertaining. Check out this trailer before I discuss this any further so you will have an idea of what I'm talking about.

     

    As you can see, this documentary is about the fans of a TV show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, whose intended audience is little girls, ages 2 to 11. Unexpectedly, a huge contingent of males aged 12 to 35 are also obsessed with the show.
      One of the most interesting things about this documentary is how it was made. It started as a Kickstarer campaign with a goal of $60,000. It reached it's goal in about 3 days and when the campaign was over it had raised over $322,000. The film is the brainchild of John da Lancie, a voice actor, that plays one of the characters in the show.  (He also plays Jane's father, the air traffic controller, in Breaking Bad.) da Lancie had the idea when he saw the amazing outpouring of support from these adult fans when he joined the show.
     I am not going to spoil anything in this film which is very heartfelt. You should all see it as it is a fascinating look at the emotions of many young people today, not to mention a very entertaining documentary. I would like to talk about how these people are perceived in the media and popular culture.

    When I first heard of these people I was somewhat creeped out as I'm sure some of you were. It seems unnatural that adult males with jobs and families and mortgages should be obsessed with this show. As expected, people have been extremely derogatory online and in the media. Despite this, there is nothing that is fundamentally wrong adults enjoying this show. No doubt the creators were thrilled to find out that they had inspired a cult following. There is really no difference between adults enjoying this and adults enjoying Harry Potter. In fact I believe the same ideas that make Harry Potter popular also make My Little Pony popular. Specifically, the ideas of loyalty, friendship, respect and a solid idea of what is right and what is wrong are, in my opinion what make both of these examples so popular. These are the things that just about everyone desires in their own lives. They want friends who won't abandon them when things get hard. They want to be respected for their own abilities. They want to know that the moral decision that they make is for the right. In today's day and age, so many people have learned that right and wrong are relative that they find relief in a place where right and wrong are so attainable.

     As I have previously alluded, I think that fandoms such as the ones created by My Little Pony, comic books and geekery in general are attractive to Generation Y and Mellennials in particular because they create a sense of belonging that they cannot find anywhere else. They are often alone and shunned by others in our culture because they have interests beyond what is trivial and trite. They may come from broken homes, or have a disability or just not be "cool" and they have found a place that they are not only accepted, but embraced. They are respected for the things they can do and the things they can create and they make very lasting friendships. While others are joining gangs and cults, these "nerds" are finding a sense of belonging in something harmless if not downright positive.

     All this to say, this documentary is excellent and is a fun film. I highly recommend it. Next week there will be no documentary post as Hannah and I will be travelling to New Mexico. I will post pictures as we visit different locations featured in AMC's Breaking Bad.