Music Sunday!

I just got around to finally watching David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo last night.

I'm so conflicted about Trent Reznor. One one hand, Downward Spiral will probably remain on my list of favorite albums, but on the other, every NiN project after The Fragile has suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucked. But on the other other hand, Reznor's soundtrack work has been amazing.

Ah, well.

Audley goes to the movies!

Tonight's episode: The Hunger Games

 Before we start, I'd like to make a couple of things clear: 1) I've read the book series and 2) holy crap, SPOILERS.

And here we go!

It is incredibly refreshing to see a blockbuster movie with a young woman in the lead role that isn't some piece-of-shit romance/rom-com. I don't need to see another fucking movie with a ridiculous (and oftentimes emotionally abusive (played for laffs, of course)) romantic entanglement. Barf, barf, barf.

Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen as if she has actually read the books. Katniss is strong and loyal. She doesn't make friends easily or try to impress people. In other words, she is the polar opposite of the milquetoast can't-make-a-decision-for-herself type of role that we see so often lately. *cough!* Bella *cough!*

The casting in general is pretty inspired, but Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman) stole the entire show. He manages to perfectly encapsulate the immense likeability and the extremely fake emotional reactions that are the hallmark of the truly great talk show hosts. Tucci plays Flickerman like Ruby Rhod without Chris Tucker's mania. And trust me, it works.

The other thing that struck me was how emotionally engaged everyone in the theater was. Right at the beginning during the "reaping" scene, people in my row and behind me had already started crying-- Katniss' sacrifice for her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) is terrible. Later in the movie, when Rue (Amandla Stenberg) died, I found myself crying, even though I knew it was going to happen and I haven't cried during a movie in years. Both she and Jennifer Lawrence were just that good.

All in all, I was impressed. The Hunger Games had to walk a fine line between making a point about senseless violence and being grotesque. It succeeded though an excellent script and excellent casting. I would definitely consider watching it again.

If you would like a little more meat, may I suggest reading up on the racist reactions to the casting of The Hunger Games? It's an interesting look at a mix of how awful people truly are and their complete lack of reading comprehension skills.

"Neighborhood Watch"

I went to the movies today to see The Hunger Games (which I will write about later, I promise). On my way into the theater, I happened to see a poster for a Ben Stiller vehicle called Neighborhood Watch. My blood boiled.

Neighborhood Watch.
Neighborhood watch.
Neighborhood -fucking- watch.

If you have seen/read/listened to any news lately (except maybe Fox Nooz, but they're scumbags anyway) you can't escape the reports of the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman the "upstanding citizen", the "neighborhood watch captain", the vigilante with a gun.

Sadly, I can't say that the shooting of an unarmed black teenager shocked me. Saddened and enraged, yes. But anyone who is genuinely surprised that African Americans are targets in our society is either an idiot or a bigot. Or possibly both.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate groups have been on the increase for the past decade, especially the "Patriot" movement:

Meanwhile, the SPLC counted 1,018 hate groups operating in the United States last year, up from 1,002 in 2010. That was the latest in a string of annual increases going all the way back to 2000, when there were 602 hate groups. The long-running rise seemed for most of that time to be a product of hate groups’ very successful exploitation of the issue of non-white immigration. Obama’s election and the crashing economy have played a key role in the last three years

To put it in really basic terms: overt racism is on the rise. Hell, you don't even have to go out of your way to find this kind of information. Just look at the shit that the Republican presidential hopefuls have spewed while on the campaign trail. (Did Rick Santorum have to stop himself from calling president of the United States a nigger? Of course he did-- he's smart enough to not actually say the full word, but he gots to let his base know that yes, he is a big, flaming racist, just like them!)

Really, everyone. Stop being so fucking surprised.

A short note to those who insist on doubting that Trayvon's death was racially motivated: you're not helping and fuck you. Your continual doubts do nothing save silence the real victims (I'll give you a hint: it ain't Zimmerman) and make justice all the more harder to pursue. If you don't want to face the harsh realities of America, then do us all a favor and shut the fuck up.