Thursday, December 11, 2008

My Non-Surgical Lobotomy

**Editor's Note - Once again my brother Paul has supplied me with content, compensating for my abject shiftlessness. I hope you enjoy. - Ryan**

I handed her two hundred dollars, slapped her ass and sent her on her way. She was worth every penny. I took a picture of the hotel room. Beer cans were strewn on the floor, ashtrays overflowed, white powder laced the coffee table and the bed sheets were satisfyingly disarrayed. This picture would serve as my final souvenir of my hedonistic ways. It was time to give up my life of debauchery. I needed to start planning my long term future. I’d recently perused various religious texts in search of posthumous solace. One religion appealed to me beyond all others: fundamentalist Mormonism.

I’d decided to become a FLDS Mormon for three important reasons: I wanted to let god take care of my problems; a harem of servile wives sounded appealing; and lastly I wanted to indulge my narcissism to the fullest. Though I will miss my vices and possibly my mind, I felt it was necessary to hedge my bets. Eternal damnation sounds like a real downer.

I’m tired of thinking for myself. Grappling with the modern zeitgeist of an ever changing world is hard work. Learning new concepts makes my brain hurt. Solving problems takes ingenuity and tenacity. I’ve seen the light. There is an easier way. I just have to shut off my brain, let my eyes glaze over, feel the drool accumulate in the corner of my mouth and give myself over to the power of prayer. Mormonism, like most religions, states that everything that happens is God’s design. Adopting this philosophy would mean I become immune to criticism and accountable for nothing. I can finally stop thinking and put myself in the church’s capable hands. I will be able to hide behind dogma and antiquated notions without ever again having to wrestle with complex scientific ideas like a heliocentric solar system. That always sounded like witch talk to me. The Christians should have burned that trouble-maker Galileo at the steak when they had the chance. From now on ‘God did it’ will serve as my all encompassing answer to every question. I wonder how I will keep my ears and mind insulated from common sense and rationale. Hopefully there’ll be a seminar. Instead of trying to fix my problems or think through a dilemma, I will simply drop to my knees and beg a celestial dictator to deal with them. Being a Mormon is going to be swell.

One aspect of fundamental Mormonism I’m eagerly anticipating is the bonanza of obedient wives I’m entitled to. The FLDS split from mainstream Mormonism in the early 1900s when plural marriage was renounced and practitioners of plural marriage were excommunicated. People probably have a very negative view of the quality of Mormon woman given the recent news coverage on the raid of the FLDS compound in Texas. People who watched the endless coverage on CNN may be put off by the unusually high number of FLDS women sporting the uni-brow, but I won’t be so easily dissuaded. While I agree that most of these women fall on the wrong side of homely, I hold out hope that I can mine a few diamonds in the rough.

The best part is that the religion demands the obedience and fidelity of its women. I won’t have to go through the hassle of being an interesting and thoughtful person to earn their loyalty and respect. I won’t have to be genuinely interested in them either nor will I have to suffer the indignation of treating them as equals. I will be able to keep them in line with threats of eternal damnation and excommunication. This is going to be keen.

Where Mormonism really sets itself apart from other religions is that it has gone that extra mile to appeal to the megalomaniac in everyone. Other religions offered perks that piqued my interest. For example, certain sects of Islam promise the bizarre and excessive benefit of seventy-two virgins upon death. That is mighty tempting, but I prefer a girl who’s been around the block a few times.

Becoming a Scientologist would give me the chance to rid myself of those pesky body thetans that were planted there by intergalactic warlord Xenu. While Xenu has been a thorn in my side for some time now, the advantage of ridding me of him and his inflicted maladies doesn’t compare to the impressive afterlife benefits package offered by the Mormon religion. In addition to the eternal bliss that is a staple of most religions, I will have the rare opportunity of becoming a god myself with dominion over my own personal planet. Yes, Mormons actually believe this. That is what ultimately sold me, though I often wonder if I’ll be required to pray to myself. That wily Joseph Smith truly knew how to buy loyalty and manipulate the masses. As God of my own planet, my first order of business will be to banish all the Mormons and import some strippers. Being a god is going to be super.

Mormonism isn’t for everyone. Though I relish the idea of becoming an empty-headed polygamist deity, it probably won’t appeal to some. Still, I would encourage everyone to seek out a religion or belief system that discourages independent thought, appeals to narcissism, peddles easy answers, coerces through fear, represses human sexuality, spits in the face of gender equality and holds superstition in higher esteem than reason. People should decide which combination of some or all of these appeals to them and chose their religion accordingly.

Whether it be Jesus, Moses, Zeus, Muhammad, L . Ron Hubbard, or the morning horoscope, people should have a messiah whose teachings they obey without question. Who needs a brain when insecure men in goofy hats can tell us exactly how we should live our lives. If everyone does his or her part we can forget about that bleak time known as The Age of Enlightenment and go back an ideal time where science, literature, art and women are kept under the thumb of religious dogma: where they belong.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Bond Rebooted: Take Two

Editor's note - Due to an eggregious lack of productivity over the last few months, I will be publishing a post by my brother, Paul, an aspiring Roger Ebert. Your feedback would be appreciated. - Ryan

After the embarrassment that was “Die Another Day”, the James Bond franchise was in serious need of retooling. The producers did exactly that, and I thought it was a success on every level. I really liked Casino Royale. The sequel, Quantum of Solace, is a huge letdown. It was nihilistic, relentless, and at times unintelligible. I was actually left feeling nostalgic for the old cheesy Bond films. If Roger Moore flew across the screen in jet pack, pursued by generic goons with spear guns, and dropped a pun about stuffing Christmas Jones, I would have stood up and applauded.

Attention, Modern Action Directors: Incomprehensible, quick-cut action scenes are the worst thing to happen to the action genre since Michael Bay. Hey, maybe he’s responsible for them. Probably not, but I’m going to blame him anyway. I really fucking hate Michael Bay.

Quantum of Solace has two impossible-to-follow sequences: the opening car chase and an on-foot pursuit. At no time did I have any grasp of what I was watching. If you revisit action movie benchmarks such as Die Hard, The Road Warrior, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, you’ll notice that all the action sequences are easy to follow and there’s little chance epileptics will be left convulsing in their seats. At no point is the audience left stupefied by perplexing scenarios.

In the spectacular climax of the Road Warrior, for instance, it’s easy to ascertain exactly what is happening and who is involved. You get a sense of proximity, you know how many vehicles there are, and you understand what is happening to whom. If I attempted to answer who, what, where? in Quantum of Solace’s opening sequence, the only response I could offer is a vapid stare.

Mark Forster was recruited to direct this movie. He’s purportedly an art house movie darling behind films such as “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball”. Perhaps he’s out of his element here, because I thought some of “Quantum of Solace” was ham-fisted hack work. The foot chase sequence was already totally unintelligible due to the quick cuts, and to make matters worse he intercut the scene with shots from a horse race. Oh I get it! It’s a chase! He employs a similar tactic in the opera house where a death within the opera itself parallels onscreen carnage. Clap, clap. Bravo! Maybe he thinks lowbrow movie goers need this juxtaposition to follow along. We don’t, but better direction would be nice.

There are also some really confusing plot points involving Bond’s friend/nemesis Mathis. Who was he working for ultimately? Why was he killed? (I know. That was a spoiler. Don’t worry the movie was spoiled long before I gave away plot details. It’s been out for three weeks anyway. Get your asses in gear, people). I don’t consider myself particularly obtuse, but a little clarity would have been appreciated.

I think Daniel Craig was a really good choice for James Bond. He’s looks appropriately menacing, athletic, and calculating-much closer to the character Ian Fleming created. Where’s the charm though? It’s not Daniel Craig’s fault; the script wasn’t good. Bond needs to be more than a stone-faced, relentless sociopath. No, he doesn’t need to be spouting ridiculous double entendres at every opportunity, but a little personality would really round out the character. Without it he just becomes Jason Bourne.

I can only recommend this movie to fans, who frankly have already seen it. For those who need a ranking system: I’ll give it a 2 out of 5. James Bond needed a retooling. I just hope they don’t take it too far and leave nothing left of the character that so many people know and love.

Paul Sykes will return in……His review of Slumdog Millionaire.