And almost hysterical blindness to the role that popular culture plays in shaping the public's consciousness.
We now know the the dark side of "reality" television and the dumbing down of public discourse by reducing any real depth and/or nuance to a 140 character tweet.
Most of my political work has been in the area of popular culture .. the movies. books, musicin , theater we consume. I write about film in Jim Fouratt's Reel Deal : Movies that Matter and in music Listen Up or Radiosexbeat, not to alert you to the latest larger than life action film or fantasy animation film that has little to do with actual life itself, but to expose you to the creative work of artists looking at life and and trying to reflect back in narrative and documentary film and in popular music who we are today and how to regenerate hope in this moment of the depersonalization and at the same same time the heightening of a false sense of individualism. To eremind myself and you that the goal is the creation of market in this moment of the triumph of Capital.
I dto ry to get you to discover and support artist in your own community. Mine is New York City. Artists who are not afraid to speak their own inner truth. Here are some NYC people who I find doing the work an engaged artist should do: Penny Arcade, Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Pamela Sneed , Joseph Keckler, Jack Waters and Peter Cramer , Chavisa Woods, Steven Winter, Sarah Schulman, Toshi Reagon, Bonnie Feinberg, Karen Finley, Dane Terry, Tom Leger, Carol Lipnik , Margo Channing, Taylor Mac, Reno, Machine Dazzle, Amber Martin,Sam Green, Bizzy Berkley, Erin Markey, Shane O'Neill to name a few that don't get the just attention paid to Patti Smith or Bruce Springsteen, Common or Lady Gaga for example.
I asked you to support and attend the work being developed at places like La MaMa, Dixon Place, The Owl, Pangea, The Stone, Bowery Underground, Issues to name a few and the seemingly endless pop up venues all over Brooklyn and now Queens.
That I think is my job as a cultural critic: to make sure you know about events at Revolution Books or the Bureau of General Services, Queer Division, the Film Society of Lincoln Center etc etc etc ... I go and I hope to see each one of you there. When I had my own venues it was how I programed. With a conscious choice of relevance not to fame but to the intersection of art, creativity, survival and yes I will say it: JOY, erotic, spiritual and intellectual .
Now that I got that off my chest, let's look at why I think a discussion of awards and recognition for creative work is essential to keeping hope alive.
Movies : It really depends on what films are being given attention Has anyone besides me Did anyone besides me see Alex Gibney's ZERO DAYS?. About CYBER-WARFARE and the US role as the country leading the attack?
Or the British film "I, Daniel Blake" about what happens to an older worker who loses his job and can not find another one and faces the insensitivity of the "welfare " system to see him and help him?
Or "Moonlight" about the intersection between identity , family values and drug culture in a minority neighborhood? MOONLIGHT trailer
Or the Jessica Chastain political thriller "Miss Sloan" (about lobbyists in Dc and the revenge of corporate interest like the NRA when they don't get what they want?) Miss Sloan trailer
Or "Little Men" Little men trailer Ira Sachs' exposure of how gentrification and economic disparity affects not only neighborhoods but also families, friendship and neighborhoods. Or the documentary "13" 13 trailer Ava DuVernay’s documentary ab the US constitution and the reality of systemic racism in the US and the dignity of the oppressed ? Or "Trapped" Trapped trailer about the the fight of two separate older Southern women to keep open their abortion clinics open to give women the right to control their own bodies?
Or "I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO"
about James Baldwin
For example: Pop Culture can actually help us see the machinations of the Trump agenda. I believe it is in pop culture that the battle for the minds of the public is going on . Without the incisive humor of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, the public's did not have their laser insights and acute ability to cut through fake news and political machinations to focus on the real issues. with an outrageous heightened sense of humor and satire during the last months of the presidential campaign.
I believe It is critical that we each educate ourselves in order to be able to sort through political spin, fake news etc and engage our friends in this conversation in the street, the lounge or over a good brew,
Who here has actually read the Wiki-Leak DNC or Podesta emails? I read as many as I could . And was shocked at the dirty playing at the highest level of the DNC to destroy Bernie Sanders , Yes, Sanders was the candidate I supported. When he was out of the running I endorse Clinton for one reason only : the Supreme Court . I suggest the contents of those emails are as important or maybe even more to understand how the DNC under Schultz with full complicity of the Clinton campaign undermined the Sanders campaign despite the fact that he actually won in those swing states like Wisconsin who would later vote Trump over Clinton.
But let me not point fingers now . We are here together I hope in resistance,
Much of the fog of hacking is a cover up for the actual content revealed to the American public , Why , when Trump called for hacking by Russia of Clinton's emails or called for someone to take Clinton out or chanted lock her up, did not the FBI arrested him for threatening a candidate or calling on foreign government to intervene in a democratic process? Where was the FBI? Or Obama's Attorney General? ..Why has not Giuliani's role in getting the FBI head to suggest in the last week of the campaign that Clinton had violated national security? No public official , certainly none of my State's (NY) elected officials called for the FBI or the Attorney General to intervene.
Please, don't get caught in the quicksand of who hacked as the most important and only question. ..Educate yourself on how the DNC undermined the political process and opened the door for Bannon types on hate radio and online posts to rally people to express legitimate anger and channeled that anger into a fear vote. Understand how the US, not Russians,has been the biggest user of CYBER-WARFARE . When all the cards are on the table .... than WE THE PEOPLE can begin to figure out how TOGETHER we can resist the Trump/Bannon agenda..
Remember : WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT .. and we need to learn how to row together, Remember: THE RIGHT TO BE DIFFERENT is a core American value .regardless of color, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex, ... etc.
Your turn
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