One advantage to iced coffee season is that I don’t have to make coffee in the morning. Making coffee before I’ve had my first cup of coffee is always a challenge. This way it’s already made and I just drink it. I don’t even have to wait to breakfast; I’m writing this fully caffeinated. I should do this more often. With that said I wasted so much time that now I’m hungry and will eat before I write. That means I’ll have to drink more iced coffee when I get around to writing. I’m getting better with the procrastination but I have so far to go.
It’s now three hours after I wrote that last sentence. I need to make a lot more progress on my procrastination. I’ll get right on that. Yeah, right.
Yesterday’s adventure was seeing Spiderman Far From Home. When I go to the movies I generally go to the one at Lincoln Square, or 42nd Street, or 34th street. This time I decided to be smart and use Fandango to find something more convenient. It came up with the AMC Magic Johnson on 125th Street. As I live by the D train and it’s only a couple of blocks by the D, it took me only half an hour to get there. I didn’t by my ticket on Fandango as there is a service charge. But because I looked it up there first I saw that there was a discounted senior rate, and seniors start at 60. I didn’t bother seeing it in 3D so this was half the price of when I saw Infinity War. I greatly appreciate that. So this is now my neighborhood theater even though I don’t live in the neighborhood, Harlem. I was even smart and arrived at the announced movie time as they show ads and trailers for 20 minutes before the film starts. There is no reason to get there early.
This was the most disappointing MCU film I’ve seen. It could have been called, Spiderman and the Annoying People. I found the depiction of the science teachers highly offensive. And are you going to tell me that not one super science student from one of the special high schools doesn’t hate opera? It must have been a terrible production as hardly anyone was in the Prague Opera House when they saw it. I couldn’t pick up from the one line they played what opera it was. Are there any operas that start with an Aria not an overture?
The misdirection in the first part of the film is totally ineffective on anyone that knows the characters from the comics. They did the same thing in Captain Marvel except that film was great so it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t fooled but I could see how the characters would be.
Even with all the annoying characters when it came time for the climax the film worked. I’m a sucker for the hero conquering self-doubts and taking care of business. Nobody did that better than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So many of my favorite moments are of Buffy remembering who she is and kicking monster ass. “There are lots of things scarier than you, and I’m one of them.”
“Who are you?”
“Nobody.”
“Who Are you?”
“Nobody.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
This is perhaps my favorite. I’ve talked about this one in therapy.
Now to move on to a serious and difficult subject, dealing with racism. I don’t have all the answers, I might not have any of the answers, but I have thoughts worth considering. A wise friend of mine, she must be wise she agrees with me, asked; “When people make vitriolic posts condemning everyone who supports Trump who is their audience?” She went on to describe her friends and relatives who are not enamored of Trump but voted for him anyway. When you attack all Trump supporters as racists, these people shut down listening and side closer to Trump. You are reinforcing the trope that Trump relies on, “The liberal elites looking down on you.”
Responding with “But all Trump supporters ARE racists,” does not change the fact that it doesn’t help. All you are doing is pushing the borderline people into being stronger supporters. Nobody likes to be hectored.
I’m trying hard to avoid using the categorical “racist” to describe people. Most of the people that say betray racists attitudes don’t consider themselves racists. Yes that’s frustrating. This entry started with me thinking about a friend who complained about people calling him a racist. I was tempted to make the topic, if you need to preface what you say with, “I’m not a racist but …, “ you’re probably a racist. Then I thought about how this friend would take it and realized he’d get mad at me and others fighting racism, not confront his own prejudices.
We all have prejudices. It’s part of being human. We couldn’t function if we had to stop and reason out everything we do and feel. That doesn’t mean we are all racists. If we were all racists then racist would be a useless word and wouldn’t be an insult. What we need to do is encourage people to be aware of their biases. That’s all of us and that’s all biases, not just racial. I see anti-woman bias in many progressives. There are so many people that said in 2016, they have nothing against a woman, just not that woman, meaning Hillary. A remarkable number of them are now, But also not Warren or Harris. They find some flaw in each to justify to themselves that it’s not sexism. That’s much easier than finding the flaws in themselves.
There’s a part of me that objects to Zendaya playing MJ in Spiderman. Not because she’s black but because she doesn’t have flaming red hair. When other non-redheads played the role they wore a red wig so they’d look like the character we know and love from the comics. But I’m not going to rant over it as it will trigger prejudice in too many people. I wonder if it involves my prejudice. I don’t think so, as I would object to anyone but Samuel L. Jackson playing Nick Fury. But I didn’t know comic Nick Fury nearly as well, what matters is having the eye patch, and nobody could play the role half as well. But still, better to ere on the side of caution.
Our objective should be to tamp down on racism, not to feel virtuous and self-righteous. You don’t tamp down on passion with antagonistic passion. People are arguing if Trump is a racist or just an opportunist using racism. It’s not material. What matters is that he’s saying racist things and raising racial tension. There is a bright side to that. Even though he’s racists are being far more vocal about their feelings the number of people with racists views is decreasing. I know it’s not what it feels like, the racists are loud, but the poll numbers are undeniable. People are seeing his ugly side and trying to distance themselves from it, more than the number emboldened by his incitement.
I almost forgot my idiot story. I had a ticket to last night’s Met game and forgot about it till it was too late. I hate doing that. The worst part is letting Alan down. I am instituting a new safety procedure. When Alan gives me a ticket I put it in wallet compartment with my money, not the one where I keep other papers, until I put it on my calendar. Something must have interfered with me entering it when he gave me that ticket.
Tonight I’m off to see Karen Dahlstrom, Niall Connolly, and E. W. Harris at Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3. I love Karen. I’ve only seen Niall a few times but not in ages. I like him enough that I can overlook that he mispronounces his first name. I listened to Seamus Blake teach Irish for years ,and so learned that Niall is pronounced the same as kneel. But Niall says, Nigh-ell. I don’t know E.W but if he or she is good enough for Niall and Karen, she or he is good enough for me.
Wise Madness 