Idris Elba on Netflix
Idris Elba is one of the most popular actors working today. He releases a lot of new films and a lot of blockbusters. He has also been pretty much everybody’s pick for James Bond the last couple of years. Since he is such a prolific actor I thought I would look at some of his […]
Idris Elba is one of the most popular actors working today. He releases a lot of new films and a lot of blockbusters. He has also been pretty much everybody’s pick for James Bond the last couple of years. Since he is such a prolific actor I thought I would look at some of his work in some original Netflix movies since I am still trying to gauge the quality of Netflix’s own production.
The two movies in question are the new 2021 film “the harder they fall” and the 2015 film “beast of no nation”. My goal is to evaluate the quality of the film, Idris is simply the common theme between the two. The reasons for choosing these two are not deeper than that.
The harder they fall
The harder they fall is a black western. What I mean by this is, it revolves around a somewhat large cast of characters all of which are black. The music playing is also connected to black culture today. This is clearly a political choice and I will not be commenting on the politics. My sole goal is to evaluate the film on its own.
The story is about a boy named Nat Love (played by Jonathan Majors) who at a very young age watches the evil outlaw Rufus Buck (played by our boy Idris Elba) kill his parents. Sometime later Nat is a grown man looking for revenge after Rufus gets out of prison.
There are basically two factions: team good guys and team bad guys.
Team Bad Guys consist of
Idris Elba as Rufus Buck
Lakeith Stanfield as Cherokee Bill
Regina King as Trudy Smith
Team good guys consist of
Jonathan Majors as Nat Love
RJ Cyler as Jim Beckwourth
Danielle Deadwyler as Cuffee
Gathegi as Bill Pickett
Zazie Beetz as Stagecoach Mary
Delroy Lindo as Bass Reeves
You know exactly what is going to happen. The whole film is about the two factions building toward a conflict. In the end, it all culminated in a big shoot ’em up kind of climax. Where everyone is shooting at everyone and everything.
The film sets up a conflict between the two teams. The first one is Nat vs Rufus, Nat wants revenge on Rufus for killing his parents.
The two girls Trudy and Mary are also pitted up against each other. The only real reason for this is that the two women most always fight each other, this is very common in action films. The idea is to have the “evil” woman and the “good” woman (who is also the love interest) fight each other, so they don’t have to fight the men. The reason for this trope is two-folded. Firstly if the love interest beats the bad guy on her own, the main character becomes irrelevant. Thus you can’t have that happen. On the other hand, if the bad guy beats the main girl, she becomes another damsel in distress, a trope even more tiresome. By the way, Mary totally gets captured and is a damsel in distress.
The last conflict is between Beckwourth and Cherokee Bill. Beckwourth is convinced he is the “fastest draw in the west”. However, everyone around him always says that Cherokee Bill is the fastest, and thus they have to have a standoff at some point. If I am to say something nice it would be that I really liked how they resolved this particular conflict. Basically, Bill shoots him before the countdown from 5 is done. This makes him a cheater, but also kind of unlikeable. This little thing is very important, for Bill is kind of cool when he is introduced when he and Trudy break out Rufus on a train. However, after Rufus gets out Bill becomes sidelined and more relevant. He spends the majority of the film is in the background literally picking up after Rufus.
The conflict with the two girls fighting ends in a nice fight with a lot of different weapons being used. Their relationship was very shallow though and I wasn’t really interested in their conflict.
The conflict between Rufus and Nat is also resolved in a strange way.
The ending also shows Idris’s appeal as an actor, he plays with honor and a strong sense of integrity.
The twist, in the end, is still stupid. Basically, Rufus and Nat are brothers and Rufus killed his own father and his new wife as revenge for being a son of a bich when he was a child. The reason Darth Vader is shown to be Luke’s father in the second film is that we then have plenty of time for Luke to come to terms with the fact. If Rufus was shown earlier to be the brother it would have been better and hit harder. In the movie, Rufus is revealed as the brother killed immediately after, and then the movie ends. The impact of the moment falls flat.
Okay, I said I would not talk about politics, but I have to touch upon some things the movie did that I really did not like. At one point they visit a “white town”, where not only are everybody upper class white people but all the buildings are painted white, in contrast to the other towns in the film. The people in this town are also blatant racists and cowards. It is hard for me to understand the film’s message since I am not American or black. But it feels like I am being talked to like, “look at all these white guys”. Maybe I just don’t get the joke, but it took me out of the experience since it is clearly a political statement reflecting more of the world today than that of the film.
The music is also more contemporary and thus brings me out of the experience. Rap music is simply not fitting for a western since I know it does not fit the time period. When you make a period piece, you have to make it as authentic as possible. You could argue the film is “alternative history”, but they say in the beginning that these people really existed and thus they must try and make a historically accurate film.
The bad guys also sit around talking about how bad their childhood was, I do not know why maybe for sympathy points.
The film has a very interesting aesthetic. How appealing you find this black western is up to the individual, for me, it did not quite work. Overall the film seems a little too shallow, the large cast of characters makes it hard to really connect to someone. Also in the ending battle, the main team has a lot of plot armor. It’s the classic problem where the good guys hit everything they shoot at and the bad guys can’t hit anything at all. Very frustrating to look at.
They could have made the film in a way where Rufus and Nat stood in opposite ideological positions from each other. Instead, it is the simplest and dumbest revenge story ever, since we do not really know why Rufus killed his dad before the very end.
The film might be a little too black and white for me (see I can do it too).
Beasts of no nation
First of all, what a title. Beast of no nation is a great title, it packs a lot of punch, sounds cool, and is relevant to the story. The film is about a child forced to become a soldier for a group of NDF (Nativ Defence Forces) doing a civil war in Africa. The film is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and he does a “fine” job here.
The child Agu is played brilliantly by Abraham Attah. It’s rare for a child actor to really stand out. Since the film is about child soldiers going through some less than ideal times fighting a war, the emotional range of the main actor is important. He delivers a great powerful performance.
Idris Elba plays the commander of the NDF. He is fine in the role, he plays the charismatic leader of the NDF well.
As for the film itself. It’s fine, it is by no means a great piece of work. It might be because I am too jaded at this point. It is a movie about soldiers going to war. It has this “war is hell” kind of vibe, but not more than other, better war movies. The movie “come and see” is a much better child going to a war story, which is a somewhat strange subgenre.
There are some great images, an example is when Agu takes drugs and all the grass and plants turn red instead of green. Another example is at a time when Idris and Agu talk to each other and there are burning buildings and smoke in the background.
Ultimately I would say the two films in question are both somewhat decent films, but nothing really special. The harder they fall is a fun shoot ’em up kind of movie with a lot of colorful characters. Beast of no nation is a classic war is hell movie. It has some good things. If any of the movies sound interesting, by all means, go ahead and watch them.
Asian Cinema on Netflix
If you know anything about me you know that I love Asian cinema, particularly Korea and Japan are among my favorites. A lot of my favorite films are from Korea and Japan. They seem to have a unique way of telling stories. They also tell different kinds of stories and they have another sensibility when
If you know anything about me you know that I love Asian cinema, particularly Korea and Japan are among my favorites. A lot of my favorite films are from Korea and Japan. They seem to have a unique way of telling stories. They also tell different kinds of stories and they have another sensibility when it comes to film. There is also a big cultural difference, leading to a different feel when it comes to the art they make. From movies to games and Anime, let’s just say I am a big fanboy when it comes to the east.
It seems like Anime is bigger in the west than it has ever been and something indicates that its popularity will keep rising over the next couple of years. And with Korean works like Parasite winning the Oscar for Best Film, and series like Squid Game being super popular at the moment, it would seem that the west is more open to other cultures and there seems to be a particular interest in east-Asia.
With the increasing interest in East Asian media, it is no surprise that Netflix has started producing films and series from that area of the world. BUT! are they good?
In this post, I will cover 3 different movies that are all original Netflix movies. The film I will be discussing is:
High Society (Korea)
A family (Japan)
The Call (Korea)
High Society (Korea)
High society is a Korean movie about two people, a professor named Jang Tae-Joon and a deputy curator of a chaebol-funded art gallery named Oh Soo-Yeon.
The movie is filled with despicable characters doing questionable things for selfish reasons. The cast is simply unlikeable, uninteresting, and unfeeling.
The film has this elitist vibe that is very off-putting, it is filled with selfish characters that only look out for themselves. Professor Jang Tae-Joon saves a man on fire, he uses this selfless act as a way to boost his political career.
There is also this old fat guy who has sex with young women as he puts some kind of liquid on them. I assume this movie can be classified as an “erotic” thriller since there is plenty of sex in the movie. However, the sex is not that erotic and the film is not that thrilling.
Sex plays a big part as the two main leads manage to cheat on each other at the same time.
The fat old guy is also dressing up as what looks like a Japanese wrestler and beats up people. This subplot comes out of nowhere and is never mentioned again.
The music is also quite bad and doesn’t really fit any scene.
The movie is also overly sentimental at the end where the main guy gives this sappy as all hell speech that impresses no one, least of all the audience.
There is a female police officer in the film who is really cool and the only character I liked. This is hardly enough reason to watch the film.
Skip this one.
A Family (Japanese)
A family is a movie centered around the mafia in Japan. This is a yakuza film. I will admit, I have this weird fascination with the yakuza. I find the aesthetic interesting and with the growing popularity of all the games, it would seem like others share my curiosity.
The movie stars Gô Ayano as Kenji Yamamoto. The film starts with some beautiful shots of a dead body in the sea. The man who has been killed was the father of Kenji, who of course is part of the yakuza.
When Kenji is introduced he shows up completely in white, whereas everyone else is dressed in black with black hair. It is uncommon for people in Japan to stick out, and normally this would be connected to being a delinquent, which Kenji is. After the funeral he steals money and drugs from a drug dealer. He later throws the drugs in the river indicating that he might not care about the drugs but instead wanted to stop the dealer from selling to children.
The movie is divided into three parts. The first where he is a kid.The second where he is a young mobster. The third when he is older. As mentioned before he appears in the film as white and in contrast to everyone else. In part 2 after he has joined the yakuza he is dressed in black, with black hair indicating he has conformed to society and the yakuza. In part 3 he starts “training” a young guy who is also dressed in multi-colors indicating a kind of cycle.
I would recommend the film if you like gangster movies and hardcore crime stuff. Japan offers a different flavor to the traditional Gangster flick.
I will say there is a weak and awkward romance in the film and the last part drags on a bit for me.
Overall I will say check it out if you don’t have anything else on your list.
The Call (Korea)
Now, this is a BANGER! This is a movie where the less you know them better, I will be avoiding major spoilers, but I am going to touch on what the story is about. I recommend watching it, it’s great!
The story is about two women living in the same house where a phone is connecting them. One of them lives in the present, the other in the past.
The movie has a lot of twists and turns, not only regarding the plot but with character acts too. The film will constantly surprise you and keep you on your toes.
The film is violent, but it is not grotesque, there is blood when it is needed, but not in a large amount as to put people off.
To this film, I am not going to say more than GO WATCH IT NOW! IT’S GREAT!
In summary
I think Netflix is too inconsistent with its quality when it comes to these Asian films. We have one good, one bad and one kind of mediocre. There are definitely possibilities, but when it comes to Netflix films I still miss that one great film that will really blow my mind.
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The meaning of Lighthouses in Games, Books, and Film
After finishing My post on Bioshock, I suddenly thought of making a post specifically about lighthouses. I know EXITING ISN’T IT? Now, it is going to be about lighthouses in media. I will be Exploring what role lighthouses serve in different kinds of media. I found Lighthouses’ aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, but I was interested
The meaning of Lighthouses in Games, Books, and Film Read More »
After finishing My post on Bioshock, I suddenly thought of making a post specifically about lighthouses. I know EXITING ISN’T IT? Now, it is going to be about lighthouses in media. I will be Exploring what role lighthouses serve in different kinds of media.
I found Lighthouses’ aesthetically pleasing and beautiful, but I was interested in what purpose they serve in media. I know they serve as a source of light for sailors, but what about thematically in stories?
I will be looking at three different works. The movie “The lighthouse” 2019, the book “ to the lighthouse” 1927, and the game “Bioshock Infinite” 2013. All these works contain a lighthouse relevant to the story or the themes.
The Beauty of a Lighthouse
An essay on lighthouses
A lighthouse holds immense beauty to me. It is a shining beacon that lights up the way for others. It not only directs sailors, but also gives them hope. When they see the light they know home is near.
It stands alone, in a storm, on a cliff, lighting the way in the dark. No matter the strength of the wave, or the storm the lighthouse stands, alone.
If there is no storm the lighthouse simply stands quietly, alone. It waits until it is needed, it waits in solitude, alone
“Lighthouses are endlessly suggestive signifiers of both human isolation and our ultimate connectedness to each other.”- Virginia Woolf.
I get the feeling alone and isolated are keywords here. A lighthouse is by its design and function placed far away from other people. A lighthouse placed in the middle of the city would be absolutely useless, however, the same lighthouse will save lives on the coast where it can do the thing it is made for.
Maybe it’s the simplicity of the lighthouse that I like, the purpose is clear and precise.
According to the French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre humans are born with total freedom and it is up to us to find purpose. A lighthouse already comes with a purpose and a beautiful and helpful one at that.
Okay, I just snuck in a bit of philosophy there, that is all well and good, but the time has come to explore what role lighthouses play in fiction.
Bioshock Infinite
FIRST! Let’s talk about the first Bioshock, in the first game along with Infinite the lighthouse serves as the key or the gateway to the world of Rapture and Colombia. In my post on Bioshock Infinite, I talk a bit about what makes the lighthouse sequence one of my favorites in gaming. Since I talk about it there, I will not be going into too much detail since I find it redundant to repeat myself.
Bioshock Infinite starts with you being transported by boat to this remote lighthouse. It is storming and you feel totally isolated since the man who inhabits the lighthouse is dead.
Bioshock uses the lighthouse as a gateway to another world. This works well since a lighthouse is placed far away from the “real” world, thus making it the perfect place to enter another one.
Bioshock places a great emphasis on lighthouses, consider the following quote from the game.
“There is always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city.”
Now, in-game this quote refers to the multiverse storyline of the game. The quote indicates that no matter how many worlds and how many timelines, there will always be a lighthouse, a man, and a city.
This is very important in understanding the themes of Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite.
The Bioshock franchise is all about choice or lack of choice, the illusion of choice.
At the end of the game, Elisabeth and Booker go through countless doors, Elisabeth indicates that the stars in the sky are all gates. One could say there is a correlation between the light from the stars and the light from the lighthouse.
They walk through time and space by entering different kinds of lighthouses. Elisabeth says all the doors lead to “everywhere”. Thus the lighthouse serves as a portal not just to Colombia, but to everywhere.
To the lighthouse
To the lighthouse is a novel written by Virginia Woolf in 1927. The novel falls under the cultural and societal movement of modernism.
To Summarize this book is ridiculously easy.
The story is about a family planning to go to a nearby lighthouse, and in the end, they go there.
WOW! The plot is complicated indeed.
Now, the whole point of the book is not so much about the plot or what little of it exists, but what the characters talk about. I said before that the book is a part of modernism.
Modernism has a lot of history and I am simply not able to go over it here, but what I will do is outlining two characteristics for Modernism in the book.
The first is stream of consciousness
In the book, one character will lose a necklace and then go on this long tangent talking about everything and nothing with psychological revelations. There are also very few examples of punctuation in the book, this further creates the feel of a stream of consciousness since the text goes on and on and on……. And on.
The second characteristic is distortion in time. In the book, there is a section called “time passes” where 10 years is fitted into about 20 pages. This is an absolutely fantastic element of the book. Remember this idea about time being distorted we will come back to it later.
In the book, the lighthouse represents the final goal. The Ramsays, who is the family the book revolves around, keep coming up with elaborate excuses not to go to the lighthouse, despite clearly showing an interest in visiting it. They spent so much time in the book talking, in fact, the whole book is just talking.
After the “time passes” segment where some of the characters are dead they finally go to the lighthouse. It is on the lighthouse that some of the characters finally find the answers they are looking for and they find the closure they seek. The lighthouse offers resolve and answers.
The lighthouse serves as a beacon to the characters, it is their ultimate goal and destination. They are guided by the light and have a desire to go see it, just like ships in the real world.
The Lighthouse
“The Lighthouse” is an arthouse film from 2019 starring Rober Paterson as Tom Howard, and William Defoe as Thomas Wake. They play lighthouse keepers set to look after and maintain a lighthouse for four weeks.
Unlike Bioshock where a lighthouse represents the gate and the beginning to something. and in “to the lighthouse” where the lighthouse represents the final goal of something, in this film the lighthouse and the island represent the 2 men’s whole existence. The 2 men are never not on the island. It contains them, and the story.
After Tom kills a sea bird despite being warned not to, since it is believed that seabirds contain the souls of sailors who died at sea, the weather starts to change. They both stand in a storm waiting for the boat to bring them back, but nothing comes. They are trapped alone in time and space. When they realize that no boat is coming, both of them go inside in shelter of the storm. In the very same scene, Thomas says that it’s been weeks since they missed the boat. There has been no indication that time has passed, it has all happened in the same scene.
The audience then starts to wonder, how long have they been on the island? The film is about Tom working, along with his frequent dreams. In the beginning, it is clear when he dreams and when he is not, but at the end of the film, we realize that we can’t be sure.
Is the film about 2 men going mad from isolation? Or is there some supernatural power at work here? The movie is essentially about this question and the viewer is free to interpret as they please, but an important part of the film is the idea of time being distorted.
Notice how time is being distorted just like in “going to the lighthouse”, and Bioshock Infinite. There seems to be this common theme connected to lighthouses. They seem to stand separate from time and space, alone.
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 or as it is known here in Europe 232.7778°C is a dystopian novel written by American author Ray Bradbury. When I did my Brave New World post I compared it with 1984 since both of them have plenty of things in common, yet still managed to be different in key aspects. Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 or as it is known here in Europe 232.7778°C is a dystopian novel written by American author Ray Bradbury.
When I did my Brave New World post I compared it with 1984 since both of them have plenty of things in common, yet still managed to be different in key aspects. Fahrenheit 451 is a book that sometimes gets squeezed in with the other two dystopias. But is this warranted? Does it deserve to be part of the conversation or not? How is the book different from the other two? And how is it similar? All of these questions and more will be answered.
The Author
Ray Bradbury was born august 22 in 1920 in Illinois USA.
As a young boy Bradbury was fond of horror and carnivals, two things he combined in one of his more famous works “something wicked this way comes”
He got his start in 1938 where he published short horror stories.
Bradbury is often thought of as a science fiction writer, but this is simply not true. Bradbury wrote fantasy, horror, and mysteries, he has said himself that the only sci-fi book he has written was Fahrenheit 451.
The Book
Summary
Here is a quick summary of the book
The book is about a guy named Guy Montag who works as a fireman and in a twist he does not actually put out fires, he starts them. More precisely, he burns books since books are outlawed. Actually, it would be more accurate to say he burns books and the building they are in.
Montag befriends a teenage girl named Clarisse who asks him a lot of questions, like if he is happy, or why he decided to become a fireman. His friendship with Clarisse starts his doubt about society.
Later that evening when he arrives home he finds his wife Mildred motionless after she has swallowed a bunch of pills. He calls for help, two guys show up, revive her, and the very next day she acts as if nothing has happened.
Clarisse then dies in an accident, Montag starts to think something is off about society. He is set to burn a bunch of books from an old lady. When she sets fire to herself Montag realizes that there is something powerful in books since someone is willing to die for them.
Montag starts reading books in secret.
Montag has a boss called Beatty, he is kind of an asshole and later Montag kills him.
He then gets chased out by society for killing Beatty. He finds solace with former teachers, philosophers, and writers who still love books and all that. This group of people is preparing for a time after the impending nuclear war that is constantly looming.
Analysis
The novel starts perfectly! The opening of a book is setting the tone, the first couple of lines are supposed to hook the reader and make them continue. Fahrenheit starts with the line “It was a pleasure to burn”, this sets up the tone for the book and the themes.
Now, I have to address the title, It’s bad….
First of all the title is annoying to say and write, it also makes little to no sense to anyone in the world not from the US, since The US is the only country in the world using the Fahrenheit scale. The point of the book is (I would assume) to sketch a dystopian world no one wants to live in. However, since the title is so America-centered the novel feels more like an alternative history for The US rather than a classic dystopian sci-fi.
Censorship
The main theme of the book is censorship. By “protecting” the public from books, knowledge, and opposing views, society has formed into this propaganda-heavy, unfeeling world where truth is a wide concept.
Beatty explains the whole backstory of society at one point. He explains that people lost interest in books after the television was invented.
Beatty also talks about how a minority voice found passages offensive and this led to censorship
People later felt that learning and reading books led to unhappiness, and later all books were banned.
“Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, into the incinerator. Funerals are unhappy and pagan? Eliminate them, too. Five minutes after a person is dead he’s on his way to the Big Flue, the Incinerators serviced by helicopters all over the country. Ten minutes after death a man’s a speck of black dust. Let’s not quibble over individuals with memoriams. Forget them. Burn all, burn everything. Fire is bright and fire is clean.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 78).
The reason Beatty explains all this is because, well, Montag asks him. This indicates that there is no greater conspiracy enforced by the government. The “knowledge” of why they burn books is not a secret.
The reasons why they burn books are either common knowledge or Beatty tells him because Montag is a fireman like himself. Now, if it was common knowledge how would you even know about it? You can’t read up on it, and all news sources are propaganda anyway. So I think the proper reading of the scene is that Beatty tells him because they share a profession.
By the way, based on the quote above we can conclude the fact that funerals are simply not a thing, everything simply burns in the end.
The idea of censorship is something the book has in common with 1984, where people disappear for speaking critical of the system or for thoughtcrimes (thinking critically of the system). While they both differ in how extreme the censorship is, the main idea is that people are not free to read, think or speak what they want.
The World
The first thing that opens the world for the reader is Montag’s relationship with Clarisse. She finds Montag interesting and through their dialog, we get to know more about the world.
In their first conversation, she asks him if he ever reads the books he burns. He explains that it is illegal.
Clarrise explains that before firemen used to extinguish fires and not start them. This indicates that either no one extinguishes fires anymore, or they simply change names, either way, the thought of things just getting to burn without some to extinguish it is truly terrifying.
doing their conversation we see a real gold nugget of dialog;
“He felt his smile slide away. melt, fold over and down on itself like a tallow skin.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 19).
Using melt to describe his fading smile is perfect.
Clarisse later dies; we are told she was hit by a car or something. She dies off screen. This is strange for a character with such a huge impact on Montag and the story. We know she won’t be getting a funeral.
Another kind of creepy realization is when Montag comments on how Firemen look. Essentially all firemen look the same.
“Had he ever seen a fireman that didn’t have black hair?” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 46). He says they all look like mirror images of himself. Montag also says to Clarisse the reason he became a fireman was because his father and his father were. This indicates that children become indoctrinated into the profession.
Like in Brave New World and 1984 Montag feels there is something wrong with society, but he cat put it into words:
“I Don’t know. We have everything we need to be happy, but we aren’t happy.” (Bradbury. (2008). Fahrenheit 451. Harper Collins Publ. UK. P. 107)
News, propaganda, and everything in between
Mildred constantly watches news on multiple television screens. The public space is also filled with televisions and radios that constantly spew out the news. The public is therefore constantly under the influence of the government.
When Montag escapes the robot dogs (yes there are robot dogs) set out to hunt him after he kills Beatty, the government kills an innocent man and broadcasts it to everyone, despite Montag being safe and sound. The truth does not matter, they killed a scapegoat, they need to make an example out of someone it doesn’t matter who or what.
If people saw a critic of society escape, it could start a revolution or an uprising.
We now know that the government fabricates news and thus all those television screens are perpetuating lies. This makes sense since books are banned and the truth is not a thing anyone is valuing.
451 is as mentioned before the temperature at which paper starts to burn. This number is on the helmet of all firemen. The number becomes a representation of the burning of knowledge.
Is it part of the trinity?
Is Fahrenheit on the same level as Brave New World and 1984? Is it reasonable to bundle it together with the other two? Is the holy duality of dystopian sci-fi a trinity?
No……..
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (still a stupid name) is simply not as good as the other two. It can be difficult putting into words exactly what the problem with the book is.
First of all, it is not necessarily a “bad” book, the problem with these kinds of arguments is that I am not simply reading Fahrenheit on its own merits, if I did that the book would be a decent dystopia.
The problem arises when I compare it to Brave New World and 1984. The other two are more realized in their vision, better written, and more intimate with better and more memorable characters.
In 1984 the main character is an insignificant cock in a giant machine. The danger he faces is clear and the problems with society and the world even more so. In Brave new world, it is not even that clear what the problem is, for it is not a question of danger, but freedom and existential dread. In Fahrenheit the world is far less realised, sure there is some neat worldbuilding, but it is in the background.
In 1984 there is a war going on. We don’t know any of the details, but it is heavily implied that the government is using a fake war as propaganda. There is no real way to confirm this since the war in 1984 is so far away. In Fahrenheit there is a war going on where Montag lives, he talks about how fighter planes hang over his head all the time. It is not clear why the bombers are there, or who the war is against. You could say this is a positive thing, but I found it distracting since it feels like an unimportant background thing.
I do like that the point of view in Fahrenheit was that of a man in an authorial position, exploring the world that way was clever. However, I found it better executed in Brave New World.
I would take up too much space to do a complete comparison between these three books. The one thing that is relevant here (this is just my opinion of course) is that the two other books are simply more memorable. I can clearly remember the tone, themes, scenes, and characters from the other two, whereas Fahrenheit feels shallow by comparison.
In 1984 the government restructures the language so people have fewer words to express themselves. In Brave New World people are addicted to a drug making them totally oblivious to the problems of society. In Fahrenheit all books are banned and burned, see how it feels a little underwhelming compared to the other 2.
Fahrenheit 451 works as a cautionary tale regarding censorship, critical thinking, and every man’s right to read whatever he chooses. The book might not be as great as Brave New World or 1984, but the message is important and timeless and that is important if nothing else.
Do the work
Motivation sucks, motivation is overrated, motivation is fleeting and useless. If you listen to some motivational speakers they pretty much all say the same thing. “get up early and get after it” whatever that means. When it finally comes to the next day when you try to wake up early to work out you suddenly
Motivation sucks, motivation is overrated, motivation is fleeting and useless. If you listen to some motivational speakers they pretty much all say the same thing. “get up early and get after it” whatever that means.
When it finally comes to the next day when you try to wake up early to work out you suddenly realize “this sucks” and indeed it does. Where is the motivation when you need it?
The truth is you can’t just simply discipline yourself to do something. Even if you could, you can’t maintain it for very long. Most new year resolutions end in failure before January is over.
What really matters are habits, if you want to read some good books covering this subject then check out this post.
What you have to do is “do the work” , show up and do the work. If you don’t feel like it, do it anyway. If you can’t bring yourself to do something, do it anyway. However, don’t think too highly of it.
You need a bare minimum of work. Let’s take working out as an example. If you don’t feel like it, just go to the gym and when you arrive you have won and can go home. Yet, now that you are there it would be stupid not to workout. Do some maintenance lifting or cardio, do the lowest amount of work. You might not set any personal records that day, but every day can’t be a good day.
if you want to read more, read every day and the days you don’t feel like it, just read for 5 minutes or read a page, once you are at it you might as well continue.
If you write a book or blog, write for 5 minutes the days you don’t feel like it and call it a day.
It is not impressive to work out the days you feel like it, but the days you don’t feel like it. The days you go through the motions, you still have to GO through the motions.
At some point the motivation will return, in fact when you do something then the motivation comes. It’s actually the opposite of what most believe, you don’t get motivation and then do something, you do something and then you get motivation.
Marketing guru and overall terrific guy Seth Godin talks about the idea that writer’s block is a myth and doesn’t exist. He argues that what writers’ block is, is the fear of bad writing. Plumbers don’t get plumbers’ block. If you just sit down and write, good writing will eventually come out.
Stephen King says
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work,”
Ernest Hemingway has said
“There is nothing to write. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
Issac Asamoth has written and edited over 500 books in his life, the secret was. He sat down every day from morning till noon and just typed, eventually he would have a book. He did not need to write the next sci-fi masterpiece (which he did).
I post every Weekend, why? Because I have decided to be a person who posts every weekend. How? I simply sit down every day and write for 30 min (sometimes more, sometimes less). I don’t think about how good the work is, sometimes the post might be good, sometimes less so. But if I post every week and even if some might not be as good as the other it’s still worth it, for people don’t start out good, they start out bad and they get better.
Friedrich Nietzsche said
“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.”
What’s important is not that you do your best work every day. What is important is that you show up and do the work.
KINGS! KINGS! KINGS! Part 2
The King This is part 2 of the king series where I explore various Kings in fiction, check out part 1 here. Before I get into it, can I just say how bad a title “The King” is. It is horrible, at least try to come up with something interesting, “The King” could literally be
The King
This is part 2 of the king series where I explore various Kings in fiction, check out part 1 here.
Before I get into it, can I just say how bad a title “The King” is. It is horrible, at least try to come up with something interesting, “The King” could literally be about anything ever or at least any king ever. What it is about is Henry the fifth of England.
First of all, I have to address the elephant in the room. The main character is played by Timothee Chalamet who just looks like a French model, am I the only one who sees this? It is kind of jarring watching him in movies, and especially in this one, he plays a guy waging war with France. He is not exactly bad in the film, he gives a “fine” performance, nothing really special, nothing really too objektional.
The movie opens with a bit of text saying “early 15th century” and that is it, that is all we get, and frankly, that is all we need. Compared to outlaw king this works so much better. We are simply dropped into the world, and the time period, and from here we just go with it.
We start on the battlefield where a battle has recently ended. We do not know who is involved, but we get an idea when a young knight named Percius kills a soldier who isn’t quite dead yet, properly so that he does not have to suffer anymore, a noble act indeed. We learn that it was a battle between the English and the Scottish, AGAIN?!?!?!
Percius is presented as this noble knight who fights with the current king Henry IIII (played by Ben Mendelsohn) who is just the worst. Percius later departs the English army and joins a form of resistance doing some kind of civil war. However, before the battle between the two opposing groups the young Prince Hal challenges Percius to a duel. The two men will fight each other instead of their armies.
After a good fight sequence with some nice sword fighting Hal ends up victorious and Percius dies.
Hal later becomes the king of England, King Henry V. He lets himself be provoked by France and decides to wage war against them. That is basically the plot of the film, but there is so much to talk about, so let’s get to it.
First of all, the fact that Percius is presented as an important character who the audience can root for due to him having a better moral compass then the king, only for him to be killed early in the film is kind of a brilliant surprise. It shows that no one can oppose the king, not even within their own ranks. Given a look into how tyrannical a king can be.
This brings me to by far my favorite character in the film Sir, John Falstaff played wonderfully by Joel Edgerton. John is introduced as a drunk and a goofball. In his introductory scene, he is to have a scar branded shut. He complains that one should not waste precious alcohol on cleaning the wound. When the hot iron touches his flesh he starts to laugh despite the pain.
After Hal has killed Percius he feels besides himself. John goes to talk to him and he says
“Nothing stains the soul more indelibly than killing”
This is a fantastic quote. So many times in film the act of killing is done so matter of factly as if you have all done it. It takes a lot to take another man’s life, and after you are not going to be the same. I am glad that a film finally took some time to acknowledge that.
The film is about how Hal suddenly becomes king despite him not wanting the crown at all. The responsibility of the throne is slowly crushing him mentally, despite him having a lot of noble ideas.
He recruits John as an advisor since he feels he needs someone around him who he can trust, and who he can rely on. Doing the scene where it happens Hal talks about how he has started a new chapter of his life before he had a chance to finish the last. Think of the responsibility and pressure such a young man is under, going from drinking every night at the tavern, to being the most powerful man in the country, if not the world. He also talks about “the loneliness of the position I am in”. He says he needs a friend around him, John replies that “A king has no friends, only followers”
John is the only real friend he has, a friend who does not care if he was a peasant or the king of England.
When France tries to assassinate Hal he becomes angry and goes to war against them, despite him talking about peace.
It is in this campaign in France we really see Hal grow as a character or at least evolve. It becomes clear that the pressure of his position is slowly crushing him.
It is also doing the campaign in France that we meet the dauphin of France played phenomenally by Robert Pattinson. He is a real asshole and the most stereotypical arrogant Frenchman you can imagine. He also decapitates a small boy and sends the head to Hal, so let’s just call him master asshole from this point forward.
When Hal receives the head he becomes furious (understandably). He wants to execute their prisoners and put them on spikes in front of the master asshole. John refuses to follow the order saying to Hal.
“you are not that kind of man”
Here we see John being kind of a moral anchor of Hal, he tries to keep him on the right path.
John also does not pray like the rest of English indicating that he might have lost his faith with all the war he has seen. It is not explicitly told, but I like that you can infer. He also never really speaks or offers his advice in gatherings, making his role as an advisor a little difficult.
“I only speak when I have something to say”
The French outnumber the English, but John comes up with a plan to use the environment and nature to their advantage. His plan is, however, predicated on rain, and when asked how he knows it will rain he says he can feel it in his right knee, which is just a wonderful response.
There is a particularly potent moment when John fights on the battlefield in the mud. His helmet has been knocked off and you see him from above among countless others. The battles in the film are brutal, they really fit the theme of war since John says “war is bloody and soulless”.
After the battle with the French, the battlefield looks a lot like the battlefield in the beginning. Indicating that the circle of violence is the same, it only depends on the location.
Joel Edgerton has a credit as a writer on this film and I can’t help but feel he deserves some credit for how well John turned out in the film. He was really the standout character along with the master asshole.
Throughout the film, the characters will do a small subtle tilt of the head or something minor like that to convey character. This is exceptionally well done and it adds a small dimension to the character.
People talk as they should, they talk as if they fit in the period. This might seem like an odd thing to focus on, but I found the way the characters spoke in the film theatrical with a hint of Shakespear. This is of course a requirement when it comes to making a period-peace the least you can do is make sure they speak properly. I was very impressed with the film.
All these elements from the way the characters act and speak, to the way the film is shot with natural lighting, all give this fantastic tone piece where all the elements fit well together.
Overall
I really liked this film, this is by far the best original Netflix film that I have seen so far. The acting is good, the setting is gorgeous and the attention to detail is fantastic. The characters are memorable especially John and The master asshole.
KINGS! KINGS! KINGS!
This will be the first part of a two-part series exploring two films about kings. This post will be about outlaw king an original Netflix film. Next week will be about “The King” likewise an original Netflix film. The purpose is to see if Original Netflix films are as bad as people say they are.
This will be the first part of a two-part series exploring two films about kings. This post will be about outlaw king an original Netflix film. Next week will be about “The King” likewise an original Netflix film.
The purpose is to see if Original Netflix films are as bad as people say they are. Are they better or worse than what comes out in theaters?
I find it interesting that Netflix would make two historical movies like these. I don’t often see a lot of historical movies being released as well, so it is nice to see someone is willing to make them.
Outlaw King
Outlaw King is about Robert the Bruce who became the king of scots after being outlawed by the English. Already a theme is forming and that is the idea that the English are, how shall I put it, kind of douchebags, who start wars with everyone all the time.
I assume everyone reading this has already seen Braveheart, if not then know that this guy William Wallace was kind of a big deal who fought for Scotland’s independence doing that time. The film kicks into gear when the news of Wallace’s death reaches Robert played by Chris Pine.
Robert gets mad about this aggression and decides to take up arms against the English. The English don’t think that is such a hot idea since they kind of see Scotland as their property. They outlaw him and threatens anyone who is willing to help him.
Robert the now outlawed king decides to fight the English despite being horribly outnumbered. He sets out to unite different clans in Scotland under one banner.
The movie opens with a close-up on a candle with some exposition telling us where and when we are, as well as what is going on. This is a lazy way of delivering exposition, however since we are in a period of time not everyone is going to know, I think it is okay to establish things like this upfront. We do see “The King” do it better.
The film was directed by David Mackenzie who also worked with Pine on “Hell or high water”. Mackenzie does an okay job with the film as a whole, but I did have a problem with the way the beginning of the film plays out.
Essentially the first 10 minutes is one of these “no cuts sequences”. If you don’t know what this is, it is where the filmmaker avoids cutting. Or at least hide their cuts giving the illusion of there being no cuts.
It only acquires the first ten minutes, but I still found it annoying since the camera keeps moving and just won’t hold focus on anything. It always feels like the filmmaker is just doing it for the sake of it. Now, I am a person who likes it when there aren’t as many cuts and you can take your time with the film, I just did not feel it served any purpose in this film. I kept waiting for the film to cut instead of focusing on the story and that is kind of a problem.
A character I really liked was Elisabeth Robert’s wife (played by Florence Pugh). Elisabeth is a strong-willed character who early in the film displays an incredible amount of courage, when she tells of the soldiers, she shows kindness and compassion in the scene where she is introduced and talks to the little girl and her dog, insisting that the girls should call her Elisabeth. She shows devotion to her husband when she refuses to give up the crown to the English. She also spends a lot of time alone in a cage dangling from a castle, where she sings to herself to keep herself sane. Elisabeth was a real treat in this film, she is also not in the film for too long so the plot can move at a good pace.
Other than that everyone in the film does a decent job, except for the guy who plays the Prince of Wales, I thought he was quite underwhelming in the film, plus his character is super annoying with some ugly hair.
The film has a lot of wide shots with some beautiful scenery of Scottish nature.
The movie has a lot of fight scenes, they a gruesome, cruel, bloody, and not glamorous, pretty much as they should be for the film and the time frame.
There is also an infiltration-like mission at one point and it is very well done.
There are some very powerful scenes throughout the film some that spring to mind are.
In the scene where they find out Wallace is dead and Chris Pines is looking shocked as all hell showcasing some fine acting.
The scene where Elisabeth refuses to sign the crown over.
My favorite is when Drew dies at the end and Robert is holding his hand, there is no music, no sounds nothing, only the moment. It gives you time to take it in.
Overall Outlaw King is a decent film that explores a time period not often seen in mainstream cinema. Stay tuned for the next post about “The King”
The only 5 self-help books you will ever need
Let’s all be real for a moment, self-help books suck. The idea that you can engineer the perfect life is something particularly optimistic. Yes, your life might suck right now, you might feel stuck without any hope for a brighter future. You might be born in a country plagued with constant war and without clean
Let’s all be real for a moment, self-help books suck. The idea that you can engineer the perfect life is something particularly optimistic. Yes, your life might suck right now, you might feel stuck without any hope for a brighter future. You might be born in a country plagued with constant war and without clean water, but fear not! For there is an abundance of self-help books that can help you out, regardless of your circumstances.
Now, as you might be able to tell I come from a country where pessimism and low expectations are the keys to happiness. Self-help books are not really that popular in Denmark and hardly anyone is writing them. We are a people who have learned to be contempt with what we have, and make the best of it.
In the US self-help books are the most sold “genre” when it comes to books. This creates an abundance and an overflow of crap self-help books. So, if you want to improve your life and you find yourself consuming book after book on the topic, stop and read these 5.
How to win friends and influence people By Dale Carnegie
Keywords: Social skills, communication, friends, leadership
Published in 1936 this book still contains some timeless wisdom. If you find it difficult to make friends & social connections, or if you find yourself in a leadership position then this book is absolutely for you and a must-read.
Carnegie talks about how to handle people and how to make people like you. He explains how people are more interesting than you could ever imagine and by truly listening to them you might unlock secrets and stories you would not otherwise.
He essentially talks about how to increase your social IQ and thus being able to persuade people to your way of thinking.
With the increasing number of people feeling lonely in the world this book might be more needed now than ever. He also has another great book about “how to stop worrying and start living”. I would recommend that book to anyone who is a chronic overthinker like me.
The subtle art of not giving a fuck By Mark Manson
Keywords: Mindset, psychology, philosophy
The title of this book is kind of misleading, the book is not about “not giving a fuck” quite the opposite in fact, it suggests that we have to give a fuck about something and thus we have to be selective in what we choose to give a fuck about. If you are concerned with what other people think of you then you need better and bigger things to concern yourself with.
Manson wrote the book as a counter to the traditional self-help book, focusing much more on mindset, psychology, philosophy to be happy.
Manson challenges a lot of cultural norms, he outlines how happiness is not the goal of life, he talks about how you are not special and that no one is. The book works as a splash of cold water in your face, waking you up and helping you live in the real world.
Mark Manson has branded himself as someone who offers “life advice that doesn’t suck” and boy does he deliver. He tells his message very direct with no bullshit or sugarcoating. He also drops a lot of f-bombs as you might have realized by now, if this bothers you then fuck you read something else.
I should add a little disclaimer here.
Mark Manson is a very active blogger and YouTuber along with being an author. If you consume his blogposts or his youtube channel (which you should they are both great) you might not find anything new in this book, since this book is more of a collection of his work. I will therefore recommend you start with the book and then explore his other work.
Atomic Habits By James Clear
Keywords: Habits, productivity
Have you ever notice how you sometimes get these explosive bursts of inspiration and motivation for something. You might see something on TV motivating you to work out again. You start with working out 5 times a week then 4 then 3 till you are back where you started, why is that? Well, it is because willpower is simply not enough to do anything. Habits are the key to getting things done.
This book is all about being more productive and become 1% better every day. Clear outlines a lot of strategies and tricks to quit bad habits and replace them with good ones. He talks about how we should drop the idea of a “goal” and focus on systems instead. The book is in other words about making tiny changes to make yourself better each day. The tips are tangible and make sense.
Like Manson, Clear also has a blog where he posts articles and stuff. If you read his blog a lot then the book might seem like old news.
Deep Work By Cal Newport
Keywords: Deep work, productivity, work
This book is about work something we all have to do in our life. Cal argues that we waste so much time on shallow work, instead we should focus on deep work for a longer period of time a day. He talks about how by intense focusing you can achieve tremendous benefits.
Having the ability to focus intently on one thing in today’s world is increasingly valuable but also increasingly rare. We live in a world where everything is distracting us all the time. Cal says that every time we get distracted, for instance when we check social media our focus is reset. Since we only have a finite amount of attention a day, it is important to know how to use it.
We have all at the end of a day looked back and thought “what did I even do today?” Well, the reason is that we fill our time with things that seem important, but in reality, are not. Cal gives examples of how and when to use deep work, along with tactics and tricks to help you. A great book for everyone doing work (so everyone).
The war of art By Stephen Pressfield
Keywords: Art, Procrastination
Okay, so at this point, you have made some friends, changed your mindset, made habits that benefit you every day, and you get your work done faster because you use deep work. now comes the time where you have to create something. But you find it very hard to actually get started on something, you might have an outline for a book or a screenplay in your head for years, but you can’t seem to just get it down on paper. The reason is what Pressfield calls the resistance.
The resistance comes in many different sizes, it’s that little voice in your head that filling you with self-doubt. It says not today you are too tired today you can do it tomorrow, for the resistance is not clever it disguises itself to you as a friend. Instead of saying “I am never going to write my book” it says “I am going to write my book tomorrow” but tomorrow never comes.
If you are an inspiring artist or a person who feels they could make something but is paralyzed by self-doubt this book is an absolute must-read. Pressfield helps us all defeating the resistance so that we can live the life we want and deserve. The book is also very short and can be read by all.
I have always wanted to put my voice and work out on the internet, but I always felt I wasn’t ready. When I finished this book I started this blog immediately afterward. In many ways, my first post was heavily inspired by this book.
HYPE! Is actually your fault
We all know the feeling, all our friends have seen a movie and won’t shut up about how bloody good it is. When it is finally time for you to see it, you find yourself with a feeling of “that was not as good as promised”. Or maybe there is a new game being released
We all know the feeling, all our friends have seen a movie and won’t shut up about how bloody good it is. When it is finally time for you to see it, you find yourself with a feeling of “that was not as good as promised”. Or maybe there is a new game being released and all the critics are giving it 10/10. When you play it, you feel the critics have a totally different standard for quality than you.
These are both classic examples of being over-hyped for something. The problem is that we live in a connected world where everyone is connected via the internet and social media. It is not only your friends alone that HYPE you for something, but everyone else too.
When you experience something you deem to be good or a good experience like watching a good movie or TV show, you instinctively want your friends to hear about it.
However, if you are being told by one friend that something is good, you keep it in mind and remember it for later. If the same friend keeps going on and on and ON about how freaking amazing something is, well, then you get tired or annoyed so you watch more to shut him up more than the desire to enjoy the film. Now, is that the right mindset to experience anything? not really.
Now imagine the same annoying friend, but multiply him with the people on the internet and you have a recipe for a bad experience. Your feed is getting clocked up with memes and praise for a new movie, thus your expectations are being raised without you doing anything.
The problem with HYPE culture is that the time it takes from experiencing something to voicing your opinion on something is so short. You can pretty much tweet your impression right after watching the movie has ended, or as some heathens do, tweet doing the film (By the way, if you are the kind of person to use your phone in the theater you are a bad person and deserve community services for your crimes!).
You have a group of people voicing their opinion everywhere online, this creates this giant death ball of HYPE that just roles through everything before a counter group is established, this group is the people who feel the work is being over-hyped and they are pissed!
Humans are inherently social creatures the need for being part of the HYPE train is a simple need for validation. When Game of Thrones was first airing everyone and their mother saw it, this is partly because people thought it was good, but I would argue that people have a fear of missing out.
Being in a group that talks about a TV show with passion and joy while you haven’t seen it can be very difficult. Thus some people tend to simply follow the trend for fear of missing out, but also for the fear of being left out. Again humans are social animals, and being rejected by the group can be psychologically very difficult for us.
What can you do?
The Hype Break
A practice I use is what I call “The Hype Break”. The idea is that you wait to cast judgment on a film till after a day has passed. Giving yourself a break before committing to whether something is good or bad has done wonders for me. Now, you will instinctively know if you like a film or not.
The idea is not to avoid negative or positive feelings regarding a film but to temper your expectations. Time gives you perspective and giving yourself this one-day break before proclaiming your love to the world can be really helpful.
We have all had the experience of seeing a movie again that we use to love when we were younger only to find that it wasn’t as good as remembered. Time has given you a new perspective along with a broader array of tastes since you have consumed more things in that time.
The Hype Break works kind of the same, but on a micro-scale where you have time to reflect. If I have to write a post on a movie I will always write the post the day after I have seen it.
“hype leads to unhappiness and poor criticism”
That statement might sound hyperbolical and in some sense, it is, however, HYPE can and will most often lead to unhappiness. The reason for this is obvious, at some point while the HYPE is spreading (like a virus) it will reach a point where positive talk is going to tip toward being over-hyped. When this happens a large number of people will have their expectations raised to an unreachable height and will thus be disappointed no matter how good the film is.
The more HYPE going around the more disappointment and with the internet and social media the HYPE is going around fast.
HYPE can also negatively affect a whole audience and sometimes the same audience that hypes a thing. Let’s look at the aforementioned tv show Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones was a cultural phenomenon, everyone watched it and everyone talked about it. Everyone loved it and the people who had read the books kept saying how the books are EVEN BETTER!
Now, I have not seen Game of Thrones so I can’t really comment on the quality of the ending of the show, but it is no secret that everyone hated the ending. It was hated by the people who loved it. The people who hyped the show were also the ones being disappointed by the ending. Thus a large amount of HYPE leads to disappointment. The thing about a tv show is that it builds HYPE as it is airing picking up more and more HYPE for every season.
When the show keeps picking up HYPE the ending will inevitably disappoint regardless of quality. Another example was the tv show lost, which also had a less than satisfying ending. It seems to me people are complaining more and more about endings to tv shows.
I think this trend regarding disappointment in endings is here to stay. I believe it is a product of over-hype and thus HYPE once again leads to unhappiness.
Over-hype also leads to poor criticism. When the HYPE has reached its tipping point and is starting to be over-hype people will no longer receive the film positively despite how good it is.
This leads to statements such as:
“it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be”
“it wasn’t as good as people say”
Both of these statements are infuriating when it comes to film criticism, or criticism in general. The second statement is not talking about the work, but instead on other people’s perception of the work which is a useless, pointless, and stupid statement that doesn’t mean anything or reflect the person’s own opinion at all. Thus over-hype leads to people talking about the HYPE itself in some sort of meta-narrative instead of the work itself. The first statement leads me to my final point
Why it is your fault
Yes, HYPE and over-hype are actually your fault and not everyone else. This would be a great twist if I did not title the post “HYPE is actually your fault” anyway let us continue.
The statement “it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be” doesn’t comment on anything other than your perception of the film going in. This statement also relates to other statements such as “I just didn’t like it” and “it just wasn’t for me” these statements are vacuous. The reason I call them statements and not criticism or points is because they offer nothing concrete about the work itself (like before). All discourse is being brought to a halt when one of these statements is uttered. You can try and follow up with a simple why do you think/say that? Only to be met with the same statement again.
When it comes to expressing an opinion, the bare minimum is to be able to express why you hold it. You have to reflect and find elements that you either liked or disliked and you need to be able to articulate why you feel that way in order to build a good, healthy discourse around art.
People do talk a lot about something on the internet it seems impossible to avoid hype, so what does one do in those situations? Well, I think people should limit their social media use in general (unless you read my blog)
Don’t worry I am not going to preach about digital minimalism (at least not in this post) But I feel people should be more mindful about their social media use. Endless scrolling doesn’t seem to benefit anyone, maybe take a break from social media every now and again, or at least limit it till after you yourself have seen the movie being hyped.
Dealing with HYPE is on your shoulders not everyone else, Afterall you can’t control how other people behave. Limit your contact with people who HYPE stuff, check your expectations beforehand, and have a hype-break before talking about it.
Remember if you find yourself being over-hyped for something.
It is actually your fault.
Bioshock Infinite, is it still good?
I was blown away when I first got my hands on Bioshock Infinite back in 2013. The game instantly became one of my all-time favorites and has remained in my top 10 ever since. I remember playing it again immediately after finishing it the first time, my mind had been shattered due to the challenging
I was blown away when I first got my hands on Bioshock Infinite back in 2013. The game instantly became one of my all-time favorites and has remained in my top 10 ever since. I remember playing it again immediately after finishing it the first time, my mind had been shattered due to the challenging story that I tried to wrap my head around.
As time passed back in 2013 the hype slowly began to fade and I felt I was the only one championing the game. I thought it was a clear winner for “game of the year”, yet I was wrong. A bad game won, The Last of Us won everybody over and I was left with my Bioshock Infinite. Maybe my dislike of the Last of Us was due to me simply loving Bioshock too much and not being willing to accept anything else at the time. That might be true, but I still Hate The Last of Us so here we are.
I have recently been playing the game again and I thought it would be fun to write a bit about it and see if I still think it’s good enough to be among my favorites or if it has dropped off my favorites list. It was fun to see if I still liked this game or not.
I am the kind of guy who replays all my favorite games a lot. I have recently been playing Mass Effect legendary edition and I like it exactly as much as I did the first time, maybe even more.
How to start a game
Let’s start with the beginning, a shocking idea, I know. I still believe that Bioshock Infinite has one of the best starts to a game ever. You are dropped off by two random people who just argue all the way (we get to know them later) You only know that you have to bring a girl to someone you don’t know in order to clear a gambling debt.
You are then dropped off at a lighthouse, it’s raining and stormy, and as you enter you see a little note on the door saying “don’t disappoint us”. As you enter the lighthouse and make your way to the top you hear the classic American music that is prevalent in all the other Bioshock games. As you reach the top the owner of the lighthouse is sitting tied up with a bag over his head and bullet through his brain.
What I enjoy most about the journey ascending the lighthouse is that it is all in the environment, you are not told anything, yet you can piece together what happened. When you enter everything seems normal, but as you go up the stairs of the lighthouse, you see signs of a fight, you see plates on the floor shattered, you see that someone has made a mess before you find the owner dead with a hole in his head.
It might sound weird, but the beginning of the game with the lighthouse is my favorite part of the entire game, despite the lack of combat or NPC interaction. It sets the tone perfectly and sets you up for the adventure to come. As you would know on repeat playthroughs the lighthouse also serves as a major thematic part. As Elisabeth says later on:
“There is always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city.”
The lighthouse is an important part of the overall story. There is also something poetic about a lighthouse, isolated from everything else, yet provides light and guidance, a shiny beacon for others in the darkness.
So, that was the first 5 minutes of the game, now don’t worry, I am not going to do a chronological breakdown.
The Environment
If there is one thing the Bioshock franchise has in spades it would be atmosphere and tone. Now, the atmosphere in media is a combination of many things, it is all about how the different aspects play off each other and make for a greater whole. If one of the elements is off then the tone suffers. An example could be if the music was hardcore rock the overall atmosphere of the game would suffer since the music wouldn’t be compatible with the rest of the athletes.
Sometimes, however, you can create a juxtaposition like in the anime Kaiba where the cartoonish art style enhances the dark story by creating an eerie contrast.
While I still think the first Bioshock has a better overall atmosphere, Bioshock Infinite has a lot of things going for it. One of the things I liked, playing the game again was that the more you progress in the story the darker and more distorted it becomes. Both in terms of themes, but also in how the environment changes. As you explore different timelines things become more violent. This aspect of the story was something I did not appreciate or noticed the first time I played the game. It all culminates when Elisabeth kills Daisy Fitzroy, from that point everything spirals out of control.
To me, I prefer the beginning of the game before you help the vox. I love how you are thrust into the city. There is this strange feeling when you get baptized, it is like the city is “too clean” people talk as if something under the surface is not what it’s supposed to be. It is not explicitly more of a feeling and sure enough, everyone is religious, racist zealots who blindly follow an imposter of a prophet.
Where the first two Bioshock games used a more darkish blue color palette to represent the underwater city of Rapture, Infinite uses a more goldish color to represent the city in the sky. Exploring the city with the old American aesthetics of the 1920sh is something I really enjoy, I love the look and feel.
You can enter a store where someone is getting their shoe shined/polished, from a radio you hear the music of the time from a radio. These aspects make me feel like I have entered the past in a way. I enjoy just strolling around the city taking in everything.
The voxophones are basically recordings lying around everywhere, they also make for a great atmosphere. They tell a story on their own and they give great insight into one of the characters. My favorite being one from Rosalind Lutece.
“When I was a girl, I dreamt of standing in a room looking at a girl who was and was not myself, who stood looking at another girl, who also was and was not myself. My mother took this for a nightmare. I saw it as the beginning of a career in physics.”
The recordings also become more and more desperate and dark as you go through the game.
In this playthrough, I did stress a little since I tried to find all of them so I could get the achievement.
The guitar scene is beautiful and underrated, it comes kind of out of nowhere, it adds a simple little time to rest to take the game in.
Elizabeth
Yes, Elizabeth gets her own section.
Elizabeth is kind of amazing and to this day I still don’t feel she gets the respect she deserves. The game poses like an escort mission, you have to get Elisabeth from point A to point B however, there is no real chance of her getting caught or killed in combat since all the enemies only attack you. This works since the game is a shooter and not a stealth game. The combat is fast and furious and in the middle of it, Elizabeth will throw ammo, Salts, and healing to you, taking an active supporting role instead of just being something to transport.
She can also use lockpicking to unlock safes or locked doors for more loot. She can open tears to aid you in combat. She serves as an important ally and feels like a partner to Booker and never a burden. She also finds money for you, when you are not in combat.
She also goes through a whole arc doing the game. An arc from a prisoner in her tower to a strong independent character. She also undergoes a visual transformation. She changes her clothes, cuts her hair and her face become harder and more somber. This indicates Kavin Levin (the director of the game) knows what he is doing.
Elizabeth is also kind of important to the story as she is the center of everything. I also like her design and voice actor, call me biased if you like.
The story
It is no secret that Infinite’s story is a bit complex and hard to grasp at times. Or at least it is difficult when you first play the game, at least it was for me. The game is a multiverse story meaning there exists an infinite number of universes all slightly different from each other. The game foreshadows this, first in the title which is not intuitive but nevertheless is foreshadowing. The second time is when you start the game and you are met by this quote.
“The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist…”
Basically, it means that Booker is going to fill in the blanks himself when he enters a new universe. Every time he gets a nosebleed it means he is in the wrong universe.
The first time I played the game I was blown away by the story. I started a replay the second I finished it because I wanted to get a grasp of the story. The story is not as exciting now that I know what the story is and how it works. It is fun to notice the different hints and foreshadowing and it is also a well-told story so it still feels good to experience again.
One of the biggest appeals of the story is the Lutece twins. These two are hands down one of the best characters to come out in the last 10 years. At first, they just appear whenever and wherever they please. They joke around and have a lot of funny interactions.
On replays when you know who they are and what they are about they suddenly become a lot more fascinating. I still remember being mind blown When I realized they were the ones on the boat in the beginning.
They seem omnipresent in the game going where they want, jumping with Booker and Elizabeth as they enter different worlds. They can also not be killed, you can shoot and shoot at them and nothing happens unlike any other character in the game.
Gameplay
The most important thing in a game is the gameplay, a lot of people play games for the story which is something I always found a little strange and pointless. I might expand on this point in a later post. For now, let’s talk about the gameplay.
It’s just fun. There you have it, next section.
But for real, the gunplay is super fun. The game limits you by only allowing you to carry two guns at a time, which is a bit of a bummer since I like most of the guns, but I prefer the sniper, shotgun, and hand cannon. If you wanted to, you could go through the game by only using your favorite guns. The combat is fast-paced and satisfying, enemies vary. Enemies such as Firemen, crow guys, patriots, and handymen are all part of the rogues’ gallery. By the way, I hate handymen, love their design, hate fighting them.
Vigors are fun to use as well, it’s just fun going around using superpowers to kill enemies. I do miss the frost one from the first game, but that vigor makes a comeback in the DLC.
Vigor trap can also be a way to make the game more dynamic. You can use them in different combinations for maximum effect. Different play styles suit different vigors, this time around I tried using some that I usually would not be using.
skylines are fun and dynamic addition to the game. They make for transport in the city of Colombia, but can also be used for combat and strategic purposes. They are creative and are not misplaced their inclusion makes sense in a game where you explore a city in the sky.
DLC
The game has some excellent DLC especially the two that take place in Rapture, where you really can see Rapture in its prime and not in the falling state of the first game. However, the story is a bit too convoluted and confusing. They try WAY too hard to connect the Infinite with the first game and simply does not work.
The other DLC is for combat, it is an arena-like game mode. It is fun to some extent, the gameplay is funny so I spend an hour or two playing it. There are different challenges making for variety in strategy.
Criticism
It is time to talk a little about common criticism I have and hear from other people.
One bad thing that persists is that the game is kind of too easy. Normal difficulty is simply too easy, I only died once in this playthrough. In all my other playthroughs I rarely if ever die.
The game has been criticized for being for being too linear with a big city to explore only in theory, the concept of exploring is an illusion. Well, it is true the game is not an open-world sandbox. I personally don’t find open-world games that engaging, the idea of exploring the same cave with only a slight difference in variation is too tedious.
The truth is I feel that most open-world games are just empty space, with the exploring aspect taking a backseat to simple traveling. Infinite is limited in how much it allows you to explore, but I find the way the game is designed to be perfect. The exploring comes in walking into stores and listening to different conversations throughout the city. The city is also beautiful to look at, and sometimes exploring doesn’t have to be about clearing dungeons and finding hidden levels.
The game also touches on the concept of racism and a criticism I have heard is that it needed to explore that concept some more in order to give it justice to this important and heavy topic. I personally like how it is a thing in the background.
At one point Elisabeth askes innocently why blacks and whites have to use different toilets and Booker says they just have to. Before this, if you pay attention you can actually enter a bathroom and find different things, this is nothing really special.
However, at one point you walk under where the crowd is and you enter a toilet only for blacks and you find them dirty and nasty, with a colored man cleaning. This moment hits WAY harder than if someone was to blatantly say racism is bad. I will say the whole “throw the ball at the Irish and the black” is kind of not so suddenly and probably could have been done better.
I also think it’s kind of funny the way Booker eats from trash cans when there are plenty of stores with food throughout the city, it is not technically something I find annoying or a flaw, it is just a bit funny to me.
Conclusion
Is Bioshock Infinite still among my favorite games? Well, no, At least not in my top ten. It is not because I was disappointed this time around, the reason it got booted out of the top ten is that something else simply took its place. I have simply been playing too many good games since 2013 when I first played it. I have also been pondering over which game is best Bioshock or Bioshock infinite, I am still wondering and I might make a comparison later.
The game is still solid, the gameplay is fun and I adore the characters, but when you know the story and where it is going it feels less special playing it again. I would say the same about the overall impact of the game. The replay values have expired a bit for now.
Overall, Is Bioshock Infinite still good?
Yeah, it is